DEFENDER Chey Dunkley has signed a new one-year deal that will keep him at Harriers next season.

He is the latest player to pledge his future to the club following the end of the season.

Dunkley has been one of the biggest components of the team's end-of-season form and, even allowing for a more up-and-down campaign than his first at Aggborough, he still made over 30 appearances in 2013/14.

Offered fresh terms to remain at the club, the 22-year-old has moved quickly to ensure he remains a Harrier by singing a new one-year contract today.

He said: "I have unfinished business and feel I need to put an imprint on the pitch again.

"I want to get back to my best and I enjoy being here."

The news of Dunkley's deal is another step in Gary Whild's plans for the 2014/15 campaign and follows both Jack Byrne and Callum Gittings penning contract extensions earlier this week.

Whild has also moved to offer contracts to seven others.

Lee Vaughan, Mickey Demetriou, Marvin Johnson, Jamie Grimes, Aman Verma, Amari Morgan-Smith and Nathan Vaughan have all been offered fresh deals.

The manager has additionally taken the decision not to offer contracts to three members of his squad – Santiago Aloi, Adrian Cieslewicz and Ryan Rowe all have deals about to expire and will be leaving Aggborough.

Amari’i Bell and Nick Wright, two players on loan at the club from Birmingham City and Lincoln City respectively, will return to their parent clubs following the end of their spells with Harriers.

Meanwhile Whild also confirmed that he remains in talks with Danny Jackman, the other member of his 2013/14 squad who is also out of contract.

“Making decisions on the futures of players is never easy but I have always believed that at the end of a season it is only right and fair to make those decisions as swiftly as possible," he said.

“It helps the club plan for where they’d like to be moving forward but also allows lads to move on and find new clubs if necessary – all of the lads leaving us have been a pleasure to work with and it goes without saying we wish them well for their futures.

“I think we have the spine and basis of a strong squad again for next season and credit has to go to a lot of people at the club who have worked hard to make that happen.

“We have also outlined some targets in terms of new faces and hopefully this will all start to come together over the coming weeks.”

Harriers players currently contracted for 2014/15 are Danny Lewis, Kyle Storer, Chey Dunkley, Jack Byrne, Michael Gash, Anthony Malbon, Nathan Blissett, Callum Gittings, Tyrone Williams, Josh O’Keefe, Freddie Ladapo and Josh Gowling.