Interim boss Dean Saunders has warned that Crawley cannot allow history to repeat itself this summer.

Reds saw all but two of last year’s squad leave at the end of the season forcing manager John Gregory to rebuild almost from scratch.

Saunders blames that scenario for Crawley’s current predicament near the bottom of League One and is well aware that only seven of his current squad are definitely tied down beyond the end of this season.

The situation is complicated by the fact Saunders’ own future is also uncertain with the former Liverpool striker only contracted until the end of the season when the plan is for Gregory to return if he has recovered from a heart operation.

Despite there being no guarantees that he will still be at the helm at the start of next season Saunders is determined to tackle the issue over the next month but admits that climbing away from the relegation zone must take priority.

Saunders said: “I haven’t spoken to anybody at the club about it yet. I’m just concentrating on keeping the team up at the moment but over the next month or so we will have to sit down and talk about it because we don’t want a similar situation to last year.

“You only have to look at the position we are in at the moment to see the problems it has caused so it is definitely an issue that needs to be addressed. It is not ideal but it is difficult to plan too far ahead when you are trying to keep the team up. That is the most important thing.”

Dean Leacock, Marvin Elliott, Conor Henderson, Matthias Pogba, Bobson Bawling, Brian Jensen, Josh Simpson, Joe Walsh, Lewis Young, Dean Morgan, Charles Banya, Emmett O’Connor, Ryan Richefond and Bradley Isaacs are all due to become free agents in the summer while the length of Matt Harrold’s contract has never been disclosed.

Loan signings Richard Wood, Lewis Price, Darren Ward, Anthony Wordsworth and Lee Fowler are also due to return to their parent clubs leaving only Gwion Edwards, Sonny Bradley, Izale McLeod, Gavin Tomlin, Ryan Dickson, Lanre Oyebanjo and Jimmy Smith definitely tied down for next season.