Revealed: The six players who Chesterfield are in talks with over new contracts

The DT understands discussions are being held with Haydn Hollis, Jonathan Smith, Tom Denton, Jamie Sharman, Regan Hutchinson and Luke Rawson about new one-year deals.

Shwan Jalal, Sam Wedgbury, Robbie Weir, Mike Fondop, Lee Shaw, Jay Sheridan, Charlie Wakefield, Levi Amantchi and Jack Holmes are all out of contract at the end of June.

Joe Rowley, Scott Boden, Laurence Maguire, Will Evans, Curtis Weston, Josef Yarney, Liam Mandeville, Jack McKay, David Buchanan and Luke Coddington all have another year left on their contracts.

No contracts longer than one year will be currently offered to anyone, Spireites secretary, Ashley Carson, said.

Mr Carson also said manager John Pemberton is to remain on furlough for a further period and that it would be “madness” to start signing players now given the current uncertainty.

“The manager as I predicted does have a target list of target players, but for now with all the uncertainty surrounding football, it is madness to be looking to sign players this next month,” he said.

“I believe that there will be some clubs that will not survive these current challenges and it is also speculated that well over 1,000 players will be out of contract across the leagues this summer.

“Having spoken to John Pemberton, I have postponed our coffee morning and will be furloughing him for a further period.”

Meanwhile, Mr Carson “remains optimistic” that the community trust will buy the club but confirmed they will keep talking to other interested parties.

No progress has been made in the last month so current owner Dave Allen and Mr Carson will continue to plan for next season.

“It is well publicised that they (community trust) are receiving funding from other organisations and the final ratification to release the funds has understandably been pushed down the list of priorities,” Mr Carson said.

“It would be silly of me to stop talking to other interested parties and in fairness Mike Goodwin (community trust chairman) has encouraged this as a fall back position.”

Providing an update, Mr Carson also said cashflow problems had been “seriously eased” after a successful £120,000 claim to the government’s Job Retention Scheme and after receiving a full discount of £78,848 on business rates.

Mr Allen did not have to cover any extra costs in April for the “first month in a long time”, Mr Carson said.

But the club is yet to receive the advancement of £58,333 from the Premier League.

All staff and players will remain furlough throughout May and probably into June, he added.

It is hoped the club can announce the new stadium sponsor in the next couple of weeks.

Medical bills for players have been reduced from £140,000 in the 2017/18 season to £23,000 this season, Mr Carson confirmed.

No decision will be taken on the appointment of an assistant manager, fitness coach or goalkeeping coach until at least the end of May.