YORK City will only enter into discussions with out-of-contract players once the club’s Football League status is secured.

The Minstermen have just four players on the Bootham Crescent books – James Berrett, Jake Hyde, Vadaine Oliver and Reece Thompson – whose current deals extend beyond the end of the current season.

Goalkeeper Scott Flinders’ services can be retained in May, meanwhile, with the club having the option of exercising a 12-month extension.

That means the rest of the squad will be free to speak to other clubs about their 2016/17 plans from New Year’s Day onwards with skipper Russell Penn, fellow midfielder Luke Summerfield, attacker Michael Coulson and defensive sentinel Dave Winfield all currently entitled to a free transfer at the end of the campaign under the Bosman ruling.

Danny Galbraith, Femi Ilesanmi, Michael Ingham, John McCombe, Marvin McCoy, Eddie Nolan, Emile Sinclair and Anthony Straker fall into the same category.

Others such as Josh Carson, Ben Godfrey, Taron Hare, Tom Platt, Callum Rzonca and George Swan would also be free to leave North Yorkshire but, due to their age, the Minstermen could seek a compensation fee for their services, if desired, by offering them new terms.

While City remain in a battle for Football League survival, though, manager Jackie McNamara has insisted that he will be unable to hold talks concerning any player’s future at the club.

“I think that will be something we look at a little later on,” he explained, ahead of this afternoon’s Sky Bet League Two trip to Mansfield. “We need to focus on getting up the league first and getting into a good position, then we can address that.

“I know it’s important for the players and the club to know what’s happening with them but we’ve got to know what’s happening with the club as well. Once we know that, then we can sit around the table and chat with the ones we want to keep.”

More immediately, McNamara will need to decide whether he wants to retain any of his five loan signings beyond the January 2 trip to Yeovil when their initial one-month spells elapse.

Middlesbrough striker Bradley Fewster and Huddersfield centre-back William Boyle are currently staking their claims for extended stays as current first XI selections.

Arsenal defender Stefan O’Connor, meanwhile, has a hamstring injury that is set to keep him sidelined until after the Yeovil game anyway, while Tottenham winger Kenny McEvoy and Middlesbrough left-back Mark Kitching did not start the Minstermen’s last game – the 2-1 home win against Morecambe.

On the loan quintet, McNamara said: “Stefan might not be fit enough to play another game for us before his loan deal is up. He’s going to be unavailable for at least a week and his last match is the Yeovil game.

“We’ve got to make decisions and see what’s happening with all of them, as well as what we will be doing when the transfer window opens. I’ve spoken to a couple of the loan players’ clubs but everyone wants to see what’s happening with their own players and we are similar.

“We need to see who we can get in and out. Our main focus is on winning the next two games to set us up for a January push.”

On the challenge of facing play-off hopefuls Mansfield at Field Mill, the City boss added: “They’re in a good position but we know exactly what to expect and what is the best way of going about beating them.”

A ten-man City team won 4-1 on their last visit to Mansfield under Russ Wilcox in March.

The Minstermen have also scored in all but one of McNamara’s first eight games in charge, but never more than twice in a match, prompting the former Celtic captain to suggest that somebody will be on the receiving end of another goal rush soon.

“I thought we could have got a third or fourth goal against Morecambe and I think we are capable of doing that,” McNamara declared. “I can see it coming.

“We’re just working on the players’ confidence so they believe they can do it, because they can hurt teams, rather than hope for something to happen with percentage football. We saw that against Morecambe, whether it’s through people breaking forward from midfield or working off Vadaine Oliver.

“It’s also important we take the chances we get because that leads to confidence right through the team.”