Crawley will announce their retained list next week after holding preliminary talks with the players they want to keep next season.

Assistant manager Paul Raynor admitted he and boss Steve Evans face some tough decisions.

“No one has told us that they want to leave so it’s going to be very difficult,” said Raynor.

Reds do have a handful of players under contract for 2009-10 including top scorer Jamie Cook, goalkeeper Simon Rayner and skipper Chris Giles.

But the likes of key midfielder Dannie Bulman and defensive pair Adam Quinn and Jake Wright, who is expected to be named player of the season after Sunday’s final game against Histon, are out of contract next week and Evans has already confirmed he will be operating with a smaller budget than last season, although the club will remain full-time.

Reds must also make a decision on Brad Thomas, who has spent most of the season on loan with King’s Lynn. Striker Jon Shaw will return to Rochdale next week after the end of his loan spell. He still has a year left on his contract at Spotland.

Raynor said: “Nothing is set in stone as yet but we have held positive talks with the guys.

“One or two might decide to look at options elsewhere and a few others could attract interest elsewhere after the seasons they have had.

“But no one has told us they definitely want to leave which is a positive sign.”

Reds will finish ninth regardless of the outcome against a Histon side who still need a point to make sure they are in the end-of-season play-offs.

Evans has made no secret of his contempt for Histon’s long-ball style but Raynor, who played under Stutes’ assistant manager John Beck when he was Cambridge manager, admits it is effective.

Despite being part-time, Histon have been in play-off contention for most of the season and they also enjoyed a money-spinning run to the third round of the FA Cup with League One high-fliers Leeds United among their victims.

Raynor said: “They are a strong side physically who get a lot of balls in the box. They will put us under a lot of pressure but we don’t fear them. We have put on some really good performances at home this season for our fans and we want to finish the season with a home victory.”

Reds gave debuts to youth teamers Max Lake-Edwards and Byron Napper in Tuesday’s 1-0 defeat at Grays but Raynor expects to have most of his big guns back for Sunday.

That means Cook, Quinn, Giles, Bulman and Isaiah Rankin should all be in contention. Whether some of them will be playing their last game in a red shirt remains to be seen.

Histon are currently third in the table but are anxious to avoid finishing fifth because it would mean a play-off semi-final against local rivals Cambridge United, who could still pip long-time leaders Burton for the title.

Manager Steve Fallon said: “We’re definitely not in the play-offs but we’re almost there. A lot of things would have to go against us but you never know.

“We’ve still got a chance of finishing runners-up and that has to be our aim but Crawley are a good side and it’s going to be a really tough game.”

The chances of a relatively small club in Conference terms achieving what Histon have this season is bound to be reduced next season.

Luton and probably Chester City are coming down from the Football League and among the promoted teams are big-spending AFC Wimbledon, who clinched promotion from Blue Square south last week.

Evans said: “When you see clubs like Woking getting relegated it shows you how tough this league is and next season will be even harder.

“But if we get our summer recruitment right then we have a chance of doing well.”

Crawley (from): Rayner, Giles, Quinn, Wright, Rents, Bulman, Forrest, Malcolm, Wilson, Matthews, Cook, Shaw, Rankin, Killeen, Gaia, Hurren.

Histon (from): Pope, Langston, Ada, Gwillin, Baker, Andrews, Mitchell-King, Knight-Percival, Midson, Wright, Oyebanjo, Murray, Welch, Stewart, Roache.