Michael Flynn said that he is beginning to think about contract extensions for his current squad after they have made such a strong start to the season.

Of the players whose contract lengths have been disclosed, only Jake Cain and Ricky Aguiar have deals which last beyond the current season and so to keep the current group together work will need to be done to get players to stay at the County Ground.

Flynn said that he has begun to think about which players he would want to extend, but also that it is a delicate process.

He said: “I am already thinking of it [extending the contracts of current players], but when the talks start and negotiations get going, it is tough to say. It is still early days.

“You just want to focus on what is in front of you at the minute, if you start talking about contracts with one player then another player might start to feel out of place.

“This is probably one of the biggest challenges, the timing of when to do it.

“For example, if Jake Young was our player and we didn’t start talking to him until February when he has scored 25 goals then the likelihood is that he isn’t going to sign because he would be a free agent in the summer and could get a lot more money at a higher level.

“It is about getting the timing right, not upsetting the apple cart, and making sure that the player’s sole focus is doing well at that moment.

“It is a tough one, but I am thinking of it now myself and we will have to wait and see.”

Flynn said that the formal process is unlikely to begin for another few months and a lot of things would have to happen before deals are confirmed.

He said: “You get around to it at the beginning of December and that is when I think, personally, that things should start happening.

“Whether or not that does happen is a different story, agents get involved, and all manner of things go on.

“It is not just ‘we want to offer you a contract’, ‘yes, I am going to take that contract’ and it just gets done, there tends to be a little more work than that.

“Hopefully with the ones that we do want to keep, we can make that as smooth of a process as possible.”