JUSTIN Edinburgh has admitted mistakes have been made over player contracts at Newport County AFC and that it did influence his team selection, writes Andrew Penman.

The Exiles boss made it clear at Thursday’s fans’ forum at Rodney Parade that he will not be continuing the practice of inserting clauses into contracts guaranteeing a new deal after a set number of appearances.

He admitted that the matter has influenced his team selection at times this season and he doesn’t want a repeat in the future.

“The clauses worked very well for us last season because it meant we were able to keep the squad together but it has been a bit of a hindrance this season,” he said.

“As a manager I’m learning all the time and I think it’s something that we’ll phase out and we won’t be offering again.”

Edinburgh is keen, however, to build a relationship with neighbours Cardiff City and Swansea City with the view to adding players on loan next season.

“I’m on my Pro License coaching course with Garry Monk and we'll look to develop that relationship with Swansea,” he said.

“Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has a big job to do at Cardiff trying to keep them up but I'll speak to him in the summer.”

Defender Deji Oshilaja was a big hit at Rodney Parade during his loan spell from the Bluebirds and Edinburgh wants to repeat that success next season as he targets a promotion challenge.

But he again reiterated that he will not be afraid to turn to youngsters from the club’s youth ranks if he believes they are good enough.

“The youth set-up is extremely important,” said Edinburgh. “Since my time here I think I’ve shown that I have no fear of playing anyone at any age.

“We need to be getting more players into the first team. That is vital to the club because it will help financially and also there’s nothing better than seeing a local boy playing for his hometown club. That is what fans love to see.”