Who will be on Peterborough United's retained list for next season?

The only other Posh player out of contract will be left-back Tayo Edun who signed a short-term deal in January. The 26 year-old made a spectacular start at London Road, but red cards in derby matches against Cambridge United and Northampton Town have hinted at an untrustworthy temperament.

It’s unlikely Posh would want the luxury of three left-backs next season so Edun might be the one to miss out due to the rapid emergence of young Harley Mills as a top prospect in that position. That leaves Edun to fight it out with Rio Adebisi and as Posh spent £500k on the latter last summer and gave him a three-year contract it’s likely he would be retained. Adebisi (24) is two years younger than Edun.

If Posh are serious about a promotion push next season, major squad surgery will be required.

Goalkeeper Nicholas Bilokapic has had two years to make himself the Posh number one without success so he is vulnerable if another young back-up to Jed Steer can be found.

Midfielders Donay O’Brien-Brady and Ryan De Havilland are others who could be deemed surplus to requirements as Posh are known to be seeking replacements for Kyprianou and Mo Susoho from outside the current squad, although the pair won praise from their manager after a rare appearance at the weekend. One of them could easily be retained as losing both would leave Archie Collins as the only senior midfielder.

Posh are also seeking new centre-backs, one of whom should be Sam Hughes, even if at 28 he is older than most club transfer targets. He has the advantage of seeing what Posh are all about during an impressive loan spell from Stockport County in the second-half of this season.

Posh could test the waters to see if they can get another million-pound bidder for Emmanuel Fernandez by placing him on the transfer list. Norwich City had a £2 million offer for the 23 year-old accepted in January, but the deal collapsed. The Canaries have since sacked a manager. The money would come in handy for squad-building especially if Posh don’t get the million pound promotion bonuses for either Harrison Burrows or Ephron Mason-Clark.

Posh seem well off for forward players and appear intent on making Gustav Lindgren their number nine for next season. They also want to bring in wingers to supplement rather than replace Abraham Odoh and Cian Hayes. Chris Conn-Clarke has been disappointing, but he is expected to get a chance to show he belongs at League One level. Lindgren and central defenders George Nevett are in the same boat.

Collins, Mills, Malik Mothersille and Steer are among those those heading into the last year of their contracts. They can be retained, while new deals are thrashed out. Their situations could be reviewed in January and Posh could then decide to cash in rather than left them leave on free transfers next summer.

POSSIBLE RETAINED LIST

Goalkeeper: Jed Steer.

Full-backs: Carl Johnston, James Dornelly, Rio Adebisi, Harley Mills.

Centre-backs: Oscar Wallin, George Nevett, Emmanuel Fernandez (to sell).

Central midfielders: Ryan De Havilland, Archie Collins.

Forwards: Malik Mothersille, Chris Conn-Clarke, Abraham Odoh, Cian Hayes, Gustav Lindgren.