NIGEL Clough is hoping that all six players he has offered new contracts to will be joining the club for the 2018/19 season.
Lloyd Dyer, Tom Naylor, Damien McCrory, Jake Buxton, Hope Akpan and Harry Campbell are all out contract but have been offered new deals.
Clough said: “We are actively discussing a new contract with all of them. We met them individually yesterday and stressed that we want to keep them.
“Not one of them said ‘don’t send me a contract offer’. That’s good as they could have said ‘no thanks, I’m going elsewhere’.
“There’s no doubt that the bigger clubs in League One can pay more than us but that’s where we hope a bit of loyalty kicks in. We are saying to the lads to give us one season, keep it together and see if we can get back up again.”
Dyer will be 36 in September, but Clough see that as no barrier.
“I don’t think Lloyd’s age is an issue. He’s very fit and he’s our top goal scorer and where are you going to replace him? There aren’t many lpayers like him even in the Championship. He would be very difficult to replace.
“It has been a good match. I know he had better offers two years ago to go elsewhere. But he lives 20 minutes down the road with his young family and when you come to the end of your career you think seriously about those things.”
Clough also believes Hope Akpan could be a key component of the Brewers team next season.
He said: “Hope in the last six weeks has created and scored more goals than anybody and it would be brilliant if he stayed. We assumed that he might be looking to stay in the Championship, but he said he was very open to staying and we will do everything we can to keep him as he can be a major player.”