Cobblers begin talks with summer transfer targets as club await answers

After confirmation of the retained list came out last week, which saw 11 players depart and five others offered contracts, Kevin Nolan, Colin Calderwood and recruitment analyst Alex Latimer are now cracking on with piecing together a squad for next season.

"I don't think the retained list was overly surprising,” said Thomas. “The majority would agree with most of it but there will always be personal preferences and one or two that some people disagree with. But I think Kevin and the team got it right.

"I've been impressed with Kevin and Colin because they are quite strong on their thought processes. They have given quite strict deadlines to the five players we have offered contracts to. They might slip a bit with holidays and that and we'll be fair and reasonable but I expect we'll get some decisions on those soon.

"We obviously need to add players to the squad but the recruitment team are ready for it. They are very focused on who they want and there are plans in place. What I like about Kevin is that he doesn't dally on a certain player. If they're not going to come, he'll move on and find another player. That decisiveness is really good.

"There's also the loan players that have returned to their parent clubs which we might have an interest in bringing back. We will start those discussions soon and I know this week we are meeting with some players who we have an interest in as well."