Dearden promised transfer budget

The club has not yet been legally taken over by Raj Bhatia and Frank Strang and the club are still in administration, for over a year now.

When the club is taken over by Bhatia and Strang, then Dearden will finally be able to manage Notts County, as he has not been able to do so properly since he joined Notts over 1 and a half years ago.

But Dearden only has 11 senior pro's on the books but he will be allocated money from the new owners once the club is out of administration: "I am told there is the room for me to bring in seven players, once we have come out of administration.

"I am very hopeful that this will happen - obviously, if I am given the room to bring in players, I certainly will do.

"But even if that does happen and the three lads agree new deals, we will have a squad of 21 players.

"That number would go up to 23 if the Italian lads coming on loan from Juventus settle in as we hope they do," he told the Evening Post

Dearden is also hoping for a top half finish next season: "Our first target has to be to have a better season than we have in the last two years.

"We do not want to be struggling. Our second target will be to finish in the top half of the division.

"Beyond that, who knows? If we get off to a good start, anything is possible.

"And if we do find ourselves in a position to challenge towards the top, then great," Dearden told Paul Taylor.