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Decisions are due on the contracts of three youngsters at the club and Simon Johnson, whose contracts all expire in January.
Marcus Palmer, Sam Gwynne, and Jordan Fitzpatrick all see six month deals expire in the next few days after signing deals in June. Whilst Gwynne is expected to stay after breaking into the first team line-up in recent weeks, the futures of Palmer and Fitzpatrick are less clear.
Palmer made an impact towards the end of last season with a hat-trick against Westfields in the Herefordshire Senior Cup, a performance that pulled the plug on a loan move to Bath City. Three appearances in the League followed, including one start, but the 19 year old has not been seen on the pitch in this campaign and has slipped down to fifth in the chase for one of the two forward positions.
Fitzpatrick, like Palmer, was due to go out on loan in September but a delay in the paperwork scuppered the move. Despite spending 18 months at Edgar Street, his only appearance in a Bulls shirt was 17 minutes in a meaningless end of season match at Torquay in May.
Simon Johnson, like Gwynne, has forced his way into the first XI in the last few weeks. Sporadic substitute appearances over the opening four months of the season have been replaced with three starts in the last four games after a match-turning performance at Wycombe as fans begin to warm to the former Leeds man.
Decisions will also have to be made over loanees Robbie Threlfall, Lee Collins, and Ryan Flynn. Threlfall and Flynn were both receiving treatment at Liverpool for ongoing injuries, with Threlfall not expected to be fit until February, although Flynn's one month loan expired before Xmas without making an appearance. All three have the option of signing for the remainder of the season, with the season effectively split into two halves for loan signings with short term 'emergency' loans able to become long term deals for the second half of the season.
One decision that appears to already have been made is over defender Marvin McCoy, who joined the club on a one month deal at the end of August but little else was heard from him. He made his debut for Ryman League side Harrow in a Middlesex Senior Cup match just before Xmas.
With Graham Turner looking to strengthen the squad in January, he must decide whether to retain the existing players or use their wages towards new faces that could bolster, or break, the team.
