Preston set for crunch contract talks with several members of squad this week

Negotiations with agents can hopefully bear fruit, with a number of first-team players now in the last 12 months of their current deals.

Even more pressing time wise is the future of midfielder Paul Gallagher.

He reached the end of his contract during the extension of the season and had to sign a short-term deal to cover the last few games.

Ben Pearson, Ben Davies, Alan Browne, Daniel Johnson, Darnell Fisher, Sean Maguire, Andrew Hughes, Ryan Ledson, Billy Bodin, Josh Earl and Paul Huntington are among those now in the final year.

David Nugent is another in the same boat but the striker hasn’t made the impact hoped on his return.

With pre-season training starting on August 13 and the 2020/21 season kicking-off on September 12, time is certainly of the essence.

North End will hope some loyalty plays a part during the negotiations.

During the lockdown they paid the players in full, with no wage deferrals which was a route some clubs went down.

In among the contracts talks will be efforts to add fresh faces to the squad.

The forward line is the position is most need of strengthening, with a couple of strikers required.

As far as Gallagher is concerned, the 35-year-old says he still has plenty to offer North End.

He made 33 appearances this season, starting the final two games against Birmingham and Bristol City.

Gallagher said: “I hope we can try and negotiate something.

“I feel I have got a great relationship here with the people above, the manager, the fans. I carry myself in the right way too.

“To play more than 30 games aged 35 – nearly 36 – you have to be a half-decent player.

“If you weren’t a player who couldn’t affect games, you wouldn’t be playing – it’s as simple as that.

“I’m not at that stage where I’m only playing four or five games a season.

“That might happen one day but much later I hope.

“I’m still enjoying it, I love coming into training and I know the standards which are set here.”

Meanwhile, North End want any of their players who are holidaying in Spain to be back in the country by Wednesday.

The Government rules over people returning from Spain having to quarantine changed suddenly on Saturday.

For players to adhere to the now required 14-day quarantine and be available to start pre-season training on August 13, they’d have to be home on Wednesday.