BARROW AFC head coach Stephen Clemence is keen to persuade James Chester to extend his stay with the club.

Clemence was unveiled as the new Bluebirds boss on Friday and had to speak to any of the current crop of players.

The new head coach believes he has inherited a good core squad of players, but is also working hard to strengthen the squad.

Barrow released 10 players following the end of the 2023/24 season, and remain in talks with both Ben Whitfield and Chester about possible new deals.

And having worked with Chester previously, Clemence admits he is looking to speak to him about staying with the club.

He said: “I will speak to Chezzie (Chester) in the coming days.

“Obviously I worked with Chezzie at Hull and at Aston Villa and he’s been a top-class defender, and he is a top-class human being as well.

“I spoke to him when we (Clemence’s former club Gillingham) played them last season.

“He’s a good lad so he’s someone we want to speak to about staying with the club.”

Clemence revealed that he also plans to speak to the backroom staff team and other players in the next few days, and said that he’d had to wait until everything was signed and sealed before doing so.

He added: “I haven’t spoke to any players or staff yet as obviously these things (taking the Barrow AFC job) take time to get over the line.

“There are confidentiality clauses to sort when you are taking any new job, but now that I’m here and in the role, I will be looking to speak to the staff and the players in the coming days.”