Odimayo unsure of his future despite wish to stay at Sixfields

Cobblers defender Akin Odimayo has confirmed that he would like to stay at the club beyond this summer, but conversations over a new deal are yet to take place.

The 24-year-old joined the club on a two-year deal in the summer of 2022 and played 22 games last season as Town won promotion from League Two. He’s made another 30 appearances this term, including starts in each of the first 15 league games, but injuries continue to plague him.

The right-back missed three months from January to April and only returned in the recent win over Carlisle United. Like many of his team-mates, Odimayo’s contract is due to be up in the summer.

"I'm just focused on playing my football every day,” he insisted. "I leave talks like that to other people and don't really get involved in that sort of thing. I'm sure conversations will happen when they need to happen but my focus is on the football.

"There's still a job to do and you have to stay professional until the end of the season. We're paid to play week in, week out and the other side of it always gets sorted at the right time.

"Of course I'd like to say. I've had a couple of good seasons here and I'm definitely keen to talk to the club and have those conversations and see how things play out.”

After an injury-disrupted campaign in 2022/23, Odimayo was a regular for the Cobblers until the turn of the year when a problem suffered in training kept him out for three months. But he played 45 minutes against Fleetwood Town and hopes to get more game-time before the end of the season.

"I'm feeling good and I'm feeling positive,” he added. “It's been a long road back for me so I'm just happy to be back and to be playing minutes and making sure the body feels right.

"Hopefully I can get some more minutes before the end of the season.

"The injury came at an unfortunate time, right at the start of January, but I've worked hard with the staff and everyone has helped me get back as early as possible and it's nice to be able to return and play my part before the season ends.”