Central defender Gareth McAuley has reiterated his desire to remain with the club. McAuley, who scored on his 100th league appearance for the Blues on Tuesday, is out of contract at the end of the season and, along with skipper David Norris, turned down the offer of a new deal before Christmas.

The Northern Irishman says he’s happy with the current situation having spoken to new manager Paul Jewell: “I’m quite comfortable with the way things are. I spoke to the gaffer and we had a good chat about things, and we are both comfortable with the situation.

“I said that I will keep him in the picture, if I hear anything, and that sort of thing. The way it is, I want to stay here and I want to play my football here.

“I see good times ahead for the club and that’s pretty much it for the minute, until something happens.”

Jewell recently said that he will begin to look at tying down the out of contact players once the Blues have secured their Championship status for next season: “Hopefully, sooner rather than later we can get stuff sorted.

“The only concern I’ve got is making sure we’ve got enough points and then we’ll know where we’re going to be next year, I’m pretty confident that we’re going to be OK. But once we know for definite, then we can sit down and make decisions and that’s what I’ve said to the players.

“The ball’s in their court. If they go and play well between now and the end of the season and show the same commitment and desire that they have up to now, everyone wins.

“They’ll certainly win, we’ll obviously try and pay then more money to keep them, so will other clubs. It’s a win-win situation for them.”

Story syndicated from TWTD.co.uk

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