Striker Louis Appéré in talks with Cobblers over new deal

Louis Appéré celebrates his late equaliser against Charlton

Striker Louis Appéré says talks have started over extending his stay at the Cobblers beyond this summer.

Signed from Dundee United in January 2022, the 24-year-old Scot is on a long list of players who will be out of contract at the end of the current season, alongside the likes of Lee Burge, Ben Fox, Sam Sherring and Shaun McWilliams.

"There are a few of us out of contract at the end of the season,” said Appéré. “A lot of boys re-signed last summer and we kept the squad together so I’m sure the same will happen again this year.

"We have started talks but in the meantime I’m just focused on the football and all of those things will take care of themselves.”

Appéré netted his fifth goal of the season against Charlton on Saturday and it was one of the easiest he will ever score after Harry Isted’s error left him with an empty net.

He added: "The goalkeeper took a heavy touch, Hosk spotted it and put pressure on him and the ball’s come to me. It was a bit of a gift but we’ll take those and I’m always happy to get a goal.

"I hope I wouldn’t miss those! There wasn’t much time to think, the ball just fell to me and I put it in the net. It’s a shame we couldn’t go on and get a winner but we’ll move on to Tuesday because it’s a big game and we’re all looking forward to it.

"I’m obviously not from around here but since coming down I know how much it means to everyone and it means a lot to us as players so we’ll see what we can do.

"Hopefully I’ve done enough to get a start. I got the goal and put myself about but we’ll see what the manager decides."

Cobblers were a long way from their best against Charlton but Appéré’s 80th-minute goal ensured they took something from the game.

"I think we’re pretty happy with the point after how the game went and it was probably a fair result,” he continued. “We’ll take it and move on.

"We know we’re able to compete with teams at this level and our league position shows that. We have good players and a good squad and we can compete with anyone in this league.

"You’d like to think we’re safe now but there are still plenty of games to go and lots of points to play for. We’ve always split the season into five-game chunks and we’ll keep doing that and not look too far ahead.”