Pompey players out of contract at the end of the season will have to wait to find out if they are being offered new deals - and what those deals contain.

The club say they want the squad focusing on the promotion race rather than contract talks - although some fans have expressed the view the lack of talks could be as much a distraction as talks.

The News reported that Danny Hollands, Ben Davies, Gareth Evans, Ben Tollitt, Brian Murphy and Brandon Haunstrup are out of contract in the summer.

But chief exec Mark Catlin told the players it was matches first, contracts second in terms of the club's priorities.

Catlin said: ‘With regard to contracts, we’ve left that until the end of the season now. It’s important we don’t want minds deviating from what is immediately in front of us and what the focus should be. That has to be the focus for everyone now.

‘Our season could potentially end in the next five weeks. So that’s where the attentions should be for now.’

He added: ‘Paul will keep the players abreast of what’s going on if he feels it is necessary to talk to them. That’s in the hands of the manager really. But there are no real negotiations, in the way I would regard it, ongoing with the players.

‘It’s only what the manager dictates to myself the board. We don’t really want to be talking about individuals at the moment. As a collective, it’s important there’s a recognition we’ve got eight games to go. The focus should be on those eight games — not about contracts.’

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