Newcastle United academy boss Ben Dawson admits they're coming up to a tough time as players come off contract.
Dawson has already overseen changes to his starting eleven with next season in mind. Ben Parkinson and Ciaran Thompson have been promoted from the under-18 setup since the turn of the year, while out-of-window signing Amadou Diallo has assumed the captaincy in recent weeks.
He told ChronicleLive: "It's difficult for everybody, it's difficult for the staff because we can't treat anybody any differently. We have to do right by every individual, but it's also difficult for the players.
"There might have been a little bit of that [in the West Brom defeat] where they're getting to the stage of the season where they're starting to think 'am I going to be here? There's a bit more pressure on me to perform'.
"But unfortunately at this stage of their careers, that's football. That's what they're going to be stepping into, they could be out of contract with us, they could be signing for a League Two club but only with the security of one year. Performances matter, and it's a bit of a steep learning curve for some of them at this moment in time.
"The challenge is now around making sure the ones who we think are going to be here next year continue to improve, and the ones who we don't think are going to be here, we still continue to give them the same quality level of service so we can find them the best pathway away from Newcastle United."