Skipper Luke Chambers says he understands why he might have to wait for an offer of a new Town contract with his current terms up at the end of the season.
Chambers, 33, was made to wait last time his deal was close to being up with the Blues looking over their shoulder throughout the 2016/17 campaign, although ultimately never in serious danger of going down. As Town’s position became safer, the Blues took up an option on his previous contract and then offered him a new two-year deal.
Given the present even more concerning position, the former Nottingham Forest and Northampton man realises that the club may well hold back on offering terms.
"We were in a relegation scrap then and that came into the club’s thinking before so it’s certainly going to come into it now because we are in a worse position. I get that,” he writes in his column in Saturday’s match programme.
"I’d like to think that if we do get out of it and I’m playing week in, week out I’ll be worthy of a new contract but football is a funny game. You just never know.
"In an ideal world I would like things sorted a bit sooner than they were last time but we will have to wait and see. What matters most at the moment is us getting out of trouble.
"I’m confident we will. The gaffer has come in and given us the confidence to play. He wants us to be play out from the back and I’m enjoying that responsibility. He has come in and shown us how to play in a way we have not seen before here.”
Chambers recently hit the 300 appearance mark for the Blues and he will be presented with a framed shirt in recognition of that milestone prior to Saturday’s kick-off.