Goals and creativity top the summer wish list as Thomas reveals Cobblers players turned down big money from National League clubs

Chairman Kelvin Thomas believes Cobblers are in ‘better shape’ now than they were 12 months ago ahead of the summer transfer window.

Sixfields was something of a revolving door last summer with players coming and going on a regular basis following their relegation from League One.

But things are more stable this time around with seven of the 10 most used players from last season under contract for next term. The only exceptions are Fraser Horsfall, Shaun McWilliams and Liam Roberts, all of whom are weighing up their options after being offered deals to stay at Sixfields.

Horsfall has been linked with clubs in the Championship and League One, but there is also strong competition from non-league where budgets are as big as they have ever been.

"We are not going to risk the club for individual players but we will offer players what we can,” said Thomas.

"There is a certain reality in life and in football and we won't lose a player over a few hundred pounds but the money that’s even being spent in the National League now is incredible.

"I know the money that has been turned down by a couple of our players to drop into the National League and it’s not the sort of money that many teams in League Two can compete with.

"We won’t lose players for a couple of hundred quid but one or two of those players might have the chance to go and substantially increase what they earn. We will see how it plays out.

"There is always a lot of talk at this time of year and a lot of media speculation but we have been here for long enough as owners and generally we do reasonably well so we will do the best as we can and I know James (Whiting) will be negotiating as hard as he can with their agents.

"Liam, Shaun and Fraser are all important players so we would love to have them in the group but we are also realistic and we have contingency plans.”

Jon Brady and Colin Calderwood have started work on recruiting for next season, with the top end of the pitch likely to be a priority.

"I think we are in better shape now than we were 12 months ago and we are in a position to really crack on,” Thomas added.

"We have had a couple of recruitment meetings and there are some really good targets and Jon, Colin, the staff and the analysts have had a couple of good transfer windows.

"We brought in some good players in January but I think we were really unlucky with injuries. Now it’s a case of identifying players and we probably need to add goals to the team.

"Defensively we were exceptional but we just need to make sure we add goals and a little bit more creativity and that’s what Jon and Colin and the team are trying to do.”