Derek Hares will remain in charge of Deal Town next season, despite speculation linking former Ramsgate assistant Danny Ward with his job.

After talks with Town chairman Stuart McCluskey last week, Hares and assistant manager Andy Bigginton will return to their roles next season.

The meeting was called after rumours spread that Ward was being lined-up to replace Hares after he was spotted chatting with the chairman at an academy match.

However, Hares (pictured right) is happy to remain in the hot seat and is already thinking about next season.

He said: "Me and Andy will be back in charge of Deal next season. I’m happy to be here.

"It all spiralled out of control and I’m glad to be able to put it behind me. We sat down at the end of last week – it is something you don’t want rumbling on."

He added: "I am going to have a couple of weeks off football, take a breather and then start looking toward next season.

"I think we have underachieved with the squad which we have and I’m not making excuses but we lost a lot of big players through injury.

"I have not been able to name my strongest team once this season. We have had several people missing for months at a time."

He added: "We will sit down in a few weeks, look at the players we want to keep, those we want to let go and I’d like to bring in two or three new signings.

"If we can keep the players we have currently then we have a strong basis to build on for next season."