Shrewsbury Town have duo on their radar
Shrewsbury Town have Louis Dodds and Lee Novak on their radar as boss Micky Mellon looks to land proven League One stars.
Long-serving Port Vale midfielder or striker Dodds, 29, is out of contract.
And it's understood Town have opened talks with both him and 27-year-old striker Novak, who has been released by Birmingham City after a season on loan at Chesterfield.
Town are looking for options in attacking midfield and up front after 12-goal top scorer Sullay Kaikai, Larnell Cole and Kyle Vassell returned to their parent clubs from loan spells.
In addition, attack-minded Jordan Clark, Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro, Scott Vernon, Elliot Grandin and James Caton are five of the 17 players out of contract and the futures of James Collins and Tyrone Barnett are uncertain.
Dodds can also play in the No 10 role that Mellon often favours and is vastly experienced with 51 goals in 289 league games for Vale, who he joined from Leicester in 2008.
Novak scored three of his 14 goals in 35 League games for the Spireites in their 7-1 win against Salop on January 2, after hitting nine in 59 for Blues and 34 in 144 for Huddersfield, of which 55 were as substitute.
Mellon is understood to have sounded out centre-backs Tom Aldred from Blackpool and Rochdale's Olly Lancashire and is also looking at strengthening his attack.
The Town boss said: "We're busy looking at recruitment to rebuild the squad for next season.
"We're talking to a number of our own players too who will no doubt have options, together with targets who we believe will make our group better. So it's still a very busy time of year."
Meanwhile, chief executive Brian Caldwell is set to return to his desk today and is getting close to finalising the club's retained list.
Mellon said: "Brian's been on holiday but he'll be back today, so we should be a lot clearer.
"You're constantly working all of the time, but that's the nature of the job – it's a busy time of year and it's important we try to get things right."
Mellon has handed his list of targets to the board, with definites, hopefuls and maybes all featuring.
He said: "Yes, there's a bit of that, but we're also waiting to see who becomes available as well."
Meanwhile, Vassell has been released by Peterborough and has been linked with a move to Crawley.
The 23-year-old striker failed to score in 13 league games for Town after joining on loan in January and didn't feature in the last match.
