AS one of football’s great planners, Burnley boss Brian Laws is not the sort of man to make rash decisions over the future of his players.

But time is running out if those due to be out of contract in the summer want to earn new deals at Turf Moor.

Preparation appears to be one of the central pillars of Laws’ managerial philosophy.

He speaks of dossiers compiled on the Clarets squad from his time at Sheffield Wednesday, and summer transfer planning already underway.

When Sky Sports News rather bizarrely asked him his thoughts on how to make players leap higher for headers yesterday, Laws displayed more knowledge about the subject than anyone thought possible of a football manager.

“I’ve seen one or two things on biometrics about how to strengthen the calf and hamstring to make you able to jump higher,” he revealed during a lengthy answer.

No stone is left unturned in his quest for success, so the fact that he will soon have to make contract decisions about 11 of his senior squad - just weeks after arriving - is not something he is entirely comfortable with.

But decide he must do, and Laws could be set to deliver those verdicts very soon.

Brian Jensen, Clarke Carlisle, Steven Caldwell, Christian Kalvenes, Stephen Jordan, Michael Duff, Joey Gudjonsson, Robbie Blake, Steven Thompson and player-coach Graham Alexander will wait with bated breath, along with several young players such as Wes Fletcher and Alex-Ray Harvey.

New signing Nicky Weaver and loan buys David Nugent, Fernando Guerrero, Jack Cork and Frederic Nimani are also playing for their futures.

“Decisions will have to made so it’s something I’ll be looking at over the coming weeks,” said Laws, who is set to take the squad away for a team-bonding break after Tuesday’s match at Fulham.

“I said to the players that if they could leave me alone until the window shut I’d start looking at them more closely and observing what I think is right for the football club.

“Those that are out of contract will want to know, so I’ll be letting them know in the not too distant future.

“And when you’re out of contract of course it will motivate you to work harder.

“No-one’s got a divine right to get a contract. You’ve got to work and show that you’re the type of player that’s going to give everything to the football club.

“But I have no question about that, because they are good people.”

Numbers are suddenly something Laws is not short of, after six signings during the transfer window.

The Clarets currently have 29 players with first-team experience, making team selection rather tricky.

“You can have competition but if you have players that are slightly less in ability than the others then there’s not real competition,” said the manager.

“But when you marry them up almost like for like, then players know they’ve got to have an edge to their game to stay in the side.

“You’ll see that 10 or 15 per cent extra that I’m getting from them already in training. It’s just lifted the place a bit.

“You know an injury is always around the corner so you’ve got to prepare for it, because you don’t have any other option once that window shuts.

“I think we’ve got good cover in every position now.”