Assistant boss Stuart Taylor says Town’s loan players haven’t been forgotten while they’ve been away from the club and that it will be a new start for everyone when the squad reassembles for pre-season at the end of June.
Danny Rowe and Jordan Roberts have spent the second half of the season with Lincoln, who have won League Two and will be joining the Blues in the third tier next season, while Luke Woolfenden has spent the campaign with Swindon in the same division.
Aaron Drinan is with Waterford in the League of Ireland, where he has scored five goals with only two players having netted more so far this season, which runs through the summer.
Full-back or central defender Janoi Donacien returned to his old club Accrington in League One in January.
Earlier in the week Rowe said he expected to return to the Blues in the summer, while Drinan revealed U23s coaches Gerard Nash and Chris Hogg have been watching tapes of his games for Waterford.
Taylor confirmed that the loanees have been kept an eye on while they have been elsewhere: "Without a doubt. That was one thing we spoke about when we’ve had conversations, we spoke with Danny Rowe last week, we spoke with Jordan Roberts a couple of weeks before that.
"Danny’s done great since he’s been out there and Aaron’s done well over in Ireland as well.
"There was a possibility of Aaron playing European games but I think something’s happened over there with Waterford and St Pat’s so it’s a different story altogether.
"But that was the reason for him going out on loan. When lads go out on loan, they go out for a reason and they’re not forgotten about.
"Even with Janoi as well, we’ve watched Janoi’s games, we’ve watched all the games the lads that have gone out have played.
"They’re still our players, they’re still part of what we want to do as a football club and then we’re going to reassess things. They come back in in pre-season and it’s a new season, a new start for everybody.”
He says a decent loan spell elsewhere can re-establish a player with the Blues: "Exactly. That’s exactly what the situation is, there’s no point [in them staying here and not playing].
"Players might be on the bench here or not involved, if they can go out and get games, then it’s what they need to go and do.
"They’ve all done well and we’ve kept in touch with them all since they’ve been out on loan.”