James Collins is staying at Shrewsbury Town

The 25-year-old , who is on loan at Northampton for the rest of the season, was fined two weeks' wages after an incident at Cheltenham races recently.

It was thought the former Swindon Town forward was out of contract this summer, but he has played enough games to activate a further 12 months with Shrews.

Chief executive Brian Caldwell said: "It's my understanding that he's got another year.

"I haven't seen the contract personally, but I think there was a clause in it saying he got another year and it came to light with what happened recently."

Collins, who is believed to be Town's highest earner, has rediscovered his scoring touch with the Cobblers, his seven goals in 13 games helping the team lead League Two by 11 points.

Caldwell said: "It's up to him to come back and prove he deserves a starting place.

"The team have been doing well but I'm sure Micky (Mellon, manager) has been keeping an eye on the fact he's been scoring.

"I think he's quite keen to come back and try to show he can score goals because he's been doing that for Northampton. That's a good sign.

"If he comes back, I'm sure he'll be keen to prove a point that he shouldn't have gone on loan and he should have stayed here and scored goals for Shrewsbury Town."

Mellon has hinted Collins' future won't be judged on the incident and Caldwell has indicated the forward will get a second chance.

He added: "He can only be judged on his football. The incident was very disappointing but he apologised, because he let everyone down."

Town have released second year scholars Jack Butts, Joe Kenton, Joel Carta, Jordan Wilson, Nathan Millis and Tom King.

Striker Ethan Jones, who signed a one-year pro deal in October, is the only scholar to graduate this season.