Shrewsbury Town will place all contract negotiations on hold until the end of the season – to focus on their promotion push.

Boss Graham Turner is keen for nothing to get in the way of his squad’s bid to secure League One football next term.

David Raven, Kevin McIntyre, Jon Taylor and Craig Disley are amongst the players whose current deals run out in the summer.

“There is too much to think about at the moment in terms of playing issues without the complications (of contracts),” explained Turner.

“It’s no complication for me but it can be a distraction for players.

“If they get what they want – say a two-year contract – performances can drop off.

“If they don’t get what they want, they become disenchanted and performances can drop off.

“You can’t win as far as contractual talks are concerned at the moment.

“I would rather leave everything on ice until we know where we will be.”

Turner confirmed that one of the out of contract players, Benjamin van den Broek, is unlikely to play for Town again.

The forward has signed a pre-contract agreement with Den Bosch back in his Dutch homeland.

Town saw promotion rivals Bury notch a vital victory last night, defeating struggling Burton 1-0 at Gigg Lane despite ending the night with nine men.

It means Shrewsbury now trail Bury by five points with five games remaining, while there is a three-point deficit between them and third-placed Wycombe.

Meanwhile, Town’s players followed training yesterday with a ten-pin bowling team bonding exercise.

“Sometimes, the lads want to get together,” added Turner.

“It’s a nice afternoon for them to have a couple of hours bonding and it is a bit of togetherness and team spirit building.”

Town reserves were in action at Morecambe this afternoon.

By JAMES GARRISON