TOWN manager Danny Wilson insists there is no need for concern, despite contract negotiations with top scorer Billy Paynter being put on hold until the end of the campaign.

The 22-goal striker’s current deal runs out in July, meaning he could potentially walk away from the club in the summer for free, and while he was offered an extension to his current terms at the turn of the year, Paynter is yet to put pen to paper.

Talks have now ceased until May, with the boss believing a deadline was needed to retain everyone’s focus on Swindon’s promotion push, and Wilson is confident that former Hull City man Paynter will be plying his trade at the County Ground next season.

“We had to draw a line somewhere and finished discussions with Billy at the weekend,” he revealed. “But he and his agent knew that anyway, so that wasn’t an issue.

“We want everybody to focus totally on the job in hand, and that is now to at least cement our place in the play-offs. We don’t want any distractions and that would have been one of them.

“So that’s out the window now and we will revisit it when we need to.

“We’ve made him an offer, and it’s unlikely that most offers are ever taken first time round anyway.

“There’s always a bit of give and take in any negotiation, so that might be the reason why (it has taken a while), but the negotiations have always been very positive.

“He might be holding out to see what’s available, he might be holding out to get more money, who knows.”

Wilson explained it is only natural for players in a successful team to attract admiring glances from elsewhere, and admitted his squad have been under no pressure to extend their deals.

“There’s always little areas of concern and players may want to see what happens in the summer,” said the boss.

“Their stock will go up if the team is doing well, individual performances will possibly go with that and there could be interest.

“Lads will sometimes want to gamble with that and see what happens at the end of the season, which is fine by me because we don’t put any pressure on anyone to sign.

“If they enjoy themselves, trust us, and think we are progressing then that is up to the player to want to come on board with us. If he doesn’t, then we will go and find someone else.”