Cobblers’ out-of-contract quintet at Sixfields for talks

Midfielders Ben Harding and Luke Guttridge, forward Roy O’Donovan, centre-back Nathan Cameron and utility player Ben Tozer have all been offered extensions to their current deals but are yet to make decisions on them.

Lee Collins and club captain Kelvin Langmead put pen to paper on their own new deals last month.

It is understood that all five have received offers from other clubs, but Boothroyd will not alter the terms he has laid out to any of the group in the one-on-one discussions he has with them this week.

“There’s not really any room for negotiation, no,” confirmed the Cobblers boss.

“Last year we had a lot of players on the wage bill that we didn’t really want on it.

“We were having to balance things and we’re doing that again this year, but we’ve also got to make sure we’ve got a team that is capable of going one better than last season.

“It has shifted quite a bit in recent years because now there are quite a few players out of work, so the pond that we’re fishing in has got a bit bigger and the clubs are in a stronger position than what they have been.”

On Tuesday (June 18), the original offers can be withdrawn but there is no suggestion that such a hard-line approach will be taken at this stage.

However, Boothroyd does need to know the players’ intentions before he can begin the process of signing new players as their decisions will impact not only on his budget but on which positions need to be filled within the squad.

The club are definitely in the market for a centre-forward, a left-sided midfielder and a centre-back.

They could begin next season without both of the central defenders that started the play-off semi-finals and final if Cameron does not sign, because Clarke Carlisle has retired from professional football.