Cobblers boss Boothroyd says he will be sticking to Sixfields budget

OFF THE WAGE BILL - the departure of Adebayo Akinfenwa' and others mean Cobblers boss Aidy Boothroyd has funds to play with

Club finances are reasonably healthy at the moment, with several highly-paid players such as Adebayo Akinfenwa and Jake Robinson having departed, and the gate receipts from the npower League Two play-off final starting to filter through.

Although the revenue from the May 18 showpiece is understood to be not as high as originally planned for, it still represents an unexpected source of income.

Northampton’s budget is expected to be around seventh or eighth in the league table of league two spenders, with Fleetwood again splashing the cash to pick up the likes of Matty Blair from York City and Bury midfielder Steven Schumacher.

But the emphasis will be on financial prudence at a club who spent more money on players last season than they did in the previous eight years.

“We won’t offer anyone anything that we can’t afford,” said Boothroyd, who is in the market for a striker, a goalkeeper and a left-sided midfielder at the very least.

“A lot of clubs at our level are better run than clubs at the higher levels because they have got a lot more money.

“We’re in a situation where it’s got to be a tightly-run ship and we hope to punch above our weight but we have to do it sensibly.”

Much of what the Cobblers do during the close season will depend on which players from last season’s squad accept the offers that have been put to them.

Midfielders Luke Guttridge and Ben Harding, utility man Ben Tozer, defender Nathan Cameron and forward Roy O’Donovan all have until today to accept or decline new contracts at Sixfields.

Until that point, genuine transfer activity is likely to be at a minimum and in the meantime Boothroyd will be working on a long list of 15 potential new centre-forwards.

“I’ve got a list of about 15 players in that department,” he said.

“It’s written on the board in my office and some are ungettable, some will come off there very quickly and some we think we might have a chance of getting.

“As it’s early on, everyone is keeping their cards pretty close to their chests but as we get nearer to the start of pre-season it will crank up quite a bit.”