Wilder bemused by Bolton link and says he '˜very relaxed' about his future at Cobblers

The Town boss is still the bookies’ favourite to take over at the Macron Stadium, but Wilder says there has been no contact with Northampton from Bolton, or any other club.

Press reports in the north west today are stating that Wilder has ‘ruled himself out’ of the running for the job, and the Town boss admits he is a little bemused by the situation.

“Our club hasn’t received any approach from anybody, and I don’t talk about speculation or anything, so I don’t understand how I can be ruled out or ruled in,” said Wilder.

“I am manager of this football club, and until the chairman gets an approach from somebody and tells me, as I’m sure he would do, then my focus is 100 per cent here and carrying on the work we have done.”

Wilder was talking ahead of the Cobblers’ clash with Crawley Town at Sixfields on Tuesday night, the club’s first home game since they were crowned champions of Sky Bet League Two thanks to Saturday’s 0-0 draw at Exeter City.

As well as being quizzed about the Bolton link, Wilder was also asked if it is going to be difficult to hold on to his impressive squad of players.

There is little doubt some players will be on the radar of other clubs thanks to their impressive performances throughout the season, but with all of the current squad all under contract next season apart from Danny Rose, Josh Lelan, Paul Corry, Chris Hackett and Evan Horwood, Wilder says he is ‘very, very relaxed’ about theirs and his own future at Sixfields.

“The players are under contract, and I am under contract, and my position is pretty straightforward, and it’s the same with the players,” said Wilder, who is on a one-year rolling contract.

“We have worked hard to get to where we are, we have worked very hard to turn this club from being a team that was going out of the Football League, into a team that will hopefully win the division comfortably.

“There are a lot of good things that have happened at this club, and one of the things is the recruitment of the players, and the development of the players into a team.

“In that there is, and there always will be, players that step out and become attractive to other football clubs.

“These players enjoy working here, or at least I think they do. They certainly seem to be enjoying it in terms of the way they act and the way they play.

“Along the way though, sometimes people become attracted by different clubs, but that is good because if it wasn’t the case we wouldn’t be doing the job that we’re all doing.

“I am very, very relaxed regarding my future, and very, very relaxed regarding the players’ futures as well.

“We have worked hard to get this group together, we will need to add again and we understand that because we don’t want to stand still.

“Kelvin (Thomas) didn’t stand still in January when he gave me the opportunity and ability to go and strengthen the squad, he hasn’t stood still on anything he has done, and I’m sure he won’t going into the future.”

The Cobblers have no fresh injury concerns ahead of the Crawley game, with Wilder confirming there will be no squad rotation off the back of winning the league, and that he will be playing his strongest team.