LUKE Joyce believes Accrington Stanley could benefit from a summer of stability – a year after the Reds’ squad was decimated by the departure of several key players.

Remarkably, Joyce was the only player remaining from Stanley’s play-off line-up 12 months earlier when he captained the Reds in their final game of the season against Crawley on Saturday.

Andy Procter was sold to Preston in January – although he relinquished the Deepdale captaincy yesterday after losing his place in the latter weeks of the campaign – and Ian Craney recently departed after terms could not be agreed following an injury-hit season. Dean Winnard and Sean Hessey missed the final months of the season through injury.

But it was the departures of Jimmy Ryan, Terry Gornell, Phil Edwards, Joe Jacobson, Sean McConville and Alex Cisak last summer that hit Stanley the hardest, with Joyce admitting it was always going to be difficult to repeat last term’s fifth-placed finish as a result.

Stanley eventually ended the 2011/12 campaign in 14th place under new boss Paul Cook but Joyce is hopeful that the Reds will be able to retain the core of their squad this time around.

The club announced yesterday that Kurtis Guthrie, Liam Willis and Alan Burton had all been released at the end of their contracts but they have already signed up Peter Murphy, Ian Dunbavin and Craig Lindfield to new deals and hope to turn Padraig Amond’s loan from Portuguese side Pacos de Ferreira into a permanent move.

Talks are ongoing with Charlie Barnett, Bryan Hughes, Kevin McIntyre, Will Hatfield and Hessey, while Danny Coid has not yet been offered a deal but has been invited to link up with Stanley for pre-season once he recovers from a knee ligament injury in an attempt to earn a contract.

Winnard and Joyce were the only two players who already had contracts for next term, and the latter hopes a more settled summer at the Crown Ground this year.

“It was always going to be tough after last summer, but that’s football, players come and go,” Joyce said. “We just had to try to replace them and build a new squad and a new team.

“I think we’ve shown at times this season that we can compete with the best, so I think there are really encouraging signs for next season.

“The manager and Leam (Richardson) are looking to keep the core of the team and build around that from the lads who are staying here, and look to add some quality players – young players who are full of energy and hungry with lots of desire.

“I think we will do really well next season.”