With pre-season only a few weeks away many AFC Sudbury supporters seemed surprised that there was no news coming from manager Chris Tracey about players who would be staying or joining the club for the 2012/13 season.

Tracey and his assistant Barry Lakin have been working tirelessly and quietly, speaking to many of last season’s squad and to others they would like to be part of their plans for the new campaign.

James Baker - Decides To Stay With AFC

Tracey was today able to report that he had agreed one year deals for central defenders Adam Dalby and James Smith, midfielders, Michael Shinn, Russell Pond and Sam Clarke, while front man James Baker has turned down several more lucrative offers to stay with the King’s Marsh club while Danny Emmanuel has also agreed to stay.

Craig Bussens - Coming Back

Coming back to the club are utility player Rhys Darg, who has returned from his stint in Swedish football and will be here from the start of the season. Also making a very welcome return is wide man Craig Bussens who was with Cambridge City last season having been at AFC in 2008/09 when he made  47 appearances scoring 7 times.

New Defender - Lauris Coggin

A new defender signed is Lauris Coggin whose previous clubs include Southend United, Team Bath, Frome Town (on loan), Witham Town Heybridge Swifts and Brentwood Town.

The management are still negotiating with a number of other players and they hope to be able to name them in the next week or so.