Chester FC boss Jon McCarthy insists the Blues have learned the lessons from the departure of Ben Heneghan when it comes to tying down their key assets.
Heneghan signed for Motherwell in June but Chester received no compensation for the talented defender after marginally missing out in the 60-day window for offering a new deal to players approaching the end of their deals.
Under Fifa rules, a player can move freely from one association to another if he has not been offered a new contract at least 60 days before the expiry of his current deal and Heneghan fell into that bracker, leaving for Fir Park for free.
The need to ensure that such things don't happen again has been heightened in recent weeks with the eye-catching performances of teenager Sam Hughes, who has attracted interest from Championship clubs.
Said McCarthy: "Ben Heneghan was done properly here and the club acted to get those things done. There was some element of a couple of days and people who knew that were looking to catch us out on that which was naughty. It wasn't done fairly.
"That won't happen again. We won't make that mistake again but we are not in the position to be tying people down to two and three year contracts. But we will get there at some point.
"What we will do is manage our position as effectively as we can. They aren't even on year-long contracts, which is a problem. They are on 44-week contracts."
Scouts have been in attendance to watch Hughes in recent weeks and McCarthy says that as the New Year approaches the situation will be closely monitored.
Said McCarthy: "We have to accept where we are at and what we are doing. The club are making all of those noises.
"I would think as we get into the New Year we are forward thinking. It is something that has been mentioned quite a lot and we have a chief executive who really understands these things."
