Contract discussions can wait until after the campaign’s over, says Blues left-back
CHARLIE DANIELS is happy to park contract talks to focus on delivering promotion with Pompey.
And the Blues defender admitted he feels there’s players whose future will take priority over his, with so many of Danny Cowley’s squad out of contract this summer.
Daniels has made it clear he’s not pursuing discussions with the club over his future, after signing a short-term deal until the summer in January.
The 34-year-old believes thinking about his future at a key moment in the campaign is a distraction from the task of delivering a League One play-off place with six games remaining.
As a result, Daniels is happy to pause any thoughts about where he is going to be plying his trade next season.
He said: ‘I guess the club are waiting to see what happens.
‘It’s something I wouldn’t ask about until the end of the season, to be honest.
‘We’re at the end of the season, the nitty-gritty part of it and we don’t want to be talking about the kind of stuff that, to be honest, doesn’t really matter at the minute.
‘We need to get into play-offs. That’s the first thing we need to do. Once that’s done and we hopefully get to the promised land, we can hopefully chat after that.’
Daniels is one of 11 senior players who find themselves on deals which are coming to a close at the end of the campaign.
Pompey are comfortable with that situation, however, with the club having options on many of those who are out of contract.
That’s not the case with key men such as Jack Whatmough and Tom Naylor, however, with the skipper confirming tentative discussions have taken place over his future.
Daniels can see why there may not be contact made over what lies ahead for him, with so many players due to become free agents.
He added: ‘It’s something we’ll just have to see about at the end of the season.
‘There’s a lot of lads up and I didn’t realise there was that many, so to talk about myself would be wrong.
‘It’s the wrong time to talk about that, because there’s so many lads out of contract.
‘For us, let’s get into playoffs, see where that takes us and then go from there.’
Former Bournemouth man Daniels has now made 13 appearances for Pompey and returned to the starting line-up in Tuesday night’s goalless draw at Crewe.
Lee Brown, who had been the Blues’ first-choice left-back, is sidelined by a hamstring injury picked up in the 2-1 loss at home to Burton on Saturday.
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Charlie Daniels is one of 11 senior players whose deals conclude this summer