Mallinder: Saints still looking to strengthen

Chairman Tony Hewitt recently confirmed to this publication that the club are in the market for more signings.

And Mallinder has backed up that statement, admitting it would be nice to add some extra freshness to his squad for the 2016/17 campaign.

Last summer, Saints brought in the likes of Jamie Gibson and JJ Hanrahan to bolster their bid for glory at home and abroad.

And there are likely to be more men signing on at the Gardens in the coming weeks and months.

“The majority of our players are in contract, but we have one or two places that we’re looking at,” Mallinder said.

“It’s always quite nice to freshen things up a bit by bringing a few new faces in and that’s something we’ll be doing this year.”

Conversely, there are several current Saints players whose contracts will expire this summer.

Kahn Fotuali’i and Jon Fisher are among a group of first-teamers whose deals will reach their conclusion at the end of the current campaign.

But Mallinder insists that does not necessarily mean they won’t be sticking around.

“There’s a number of players who are out of contract and we’re talking to them at the moment, as well as talking to other players (from other clubs),” he said.

“Contracts are sorted out all year round really.

“You don’t speak to players before the new year who are from another Premiership club, but you can if they’re from any other league.

“It’s now all year round when you’re looking at your recruitment.”