DENIS Smith has moved to quash fears he hasn't signed his new contract by stating: 'After all this work, there's no way I'm going to walk away!'
The Wrexham boss has had a two-year extension ready for his signature since Christmas, but decided to wait until his players had been dealt with before he and assistant Kevin Russell put pen to paper.
And after a busy summer in the transfer market, in which he has brought in midfielder Matthew Crowell as well as strikers Chris Llewellyn and Chris Armstrong, Smith said: 'I just haven't had a chance to do it. There's no way I'm going to walk away after doing all this work to bring quality players here. I've had a deal agreed since Christmas and as soon as all the lads have signed, myself and Kevin will follow suit.'
Smith is positively brimming with the prospect of unleashing his new strikeforce on Division Two, especially after seeing both Llewellyn and Armstrong at close quarters during training over the past few days.
'Chris (Armstrong) looks very quick but is still a week behind the rest of the lads,' he said.
'He's done an extra session this afternoon to start putting that right. Chris Llewellyn is another quick lad and a great footballer. He can do something special but it's no good me going on about how good these lads are, fans have to see for themselves in the pre-season games. If the lads carry on as they've started, people will be impressed.'
But the surprise of the new campaign may just be former Southampton midfielder Crowell, who will be aiming to step into the midfield berth left by the departure of Scott Green.
'Matty's got a great attitude and a good football brain. He's going to make a big impact this season. The players know their performances in pre-season will determine who will get into the starting 11. In that respect, Matty's got a chance, but so has Paul Barrett and Stephen Thomas.'
He added: 'Things have been going well and I'd say we're a week in advance of where we were at this time last season.'
