Happy Holmes commits to Cobblers as he says '˜I will be here' next season

Holmes has been in scintillating form this season, producing a string of great performances and scoring some stunning goals since returning to the team after a back injury kept him out of action until December.

That form has led to speculation that Holmes could be a target for clubs at a higher level, but the former Portsmouth man says he is happy with his life the Cobblers, and that any talk of any moves for him or any of his Cobblers team-mates is just ‘speculation’.

Asked how the Cobblers are going to be able to keep hold of him, Holmes said: “I wouldn’t worry, I have a year left on my contract so I am sure I will be here.

“There is always talk and everything, but that is always just speculation and happens with anyone.

“I am sure people will be looking at every one of our players after the season we have had.

“They know we have a winning mentality like everybody says, and after the stuff we come through at the start of the season, everybody knows we are going to fight for each other and I am sure there is going to be speculation about every one of our players.”

Holmes currently has one year remaining on his contract, but manager Chris Wilder has already spoken about the possibility of extending the deals of those players going into the final with 12 months of deals.

Others in that situation include Adam Smith, John-Joe O’Toole, Marc Richards and Zander Diamond.

Holmes has undoubtedly been one of the star performers at Sixfields, and in the past two weeks has been named in the Sky Bet League Two team of the year, the PFA League Two team of the year, as well as claiming the runners-up spot in the Sky Bet League Two player of the year category, behind Oxford United’s Kemar Roofe.

Like the rest of his team-mates Holmes is now concentrating on ending the season on a high, and is looking forward to getting his hands on the league two title trophy following Saturday’s Sixfields date with Luton Town.

“We limped over the line, and it was hard to celebrate because we knew it was going to happen,” said the 28-year-old.

“We knew as a team that we weren’t going to lose every game when we had about eight to go, but we limped over with draws, so we were waiting to celebrate.

“When it came around, it felt like ‘we should have done this a long time ago’, and it was a weight off our shoulders.

“But it is there now, and we can really enjoy Saturday, although we need to win to really celebrate and make it a great day, and we just want to keep this unbeaten run going.”

The main team news ahead of Saturday’s showdown with the Hatters focuses on Brendan Moloney.

The Irishman has missed the past two games due to a knee problem, and is still a doubt for the weekend. If he doesn’t make it, then Josh Lelan will continue to play in his place.

Aside from long-term injury pair Marc Richards (Achilles) and Paul Corry (knee), everybody else is fit.