'Ball's in his court' - Grant McCann discusses Bobby Faulkner's Doncaster Rovers contract stand-off

Faulkner was one of five players offered a new deal upon the conclusion of last season. Two of the other four - Tom Anderson and Joseph Olowu - both rejected the offers and are opting to move on whilst Billy Sharp and Ian Lawlor have each accepted one-year extensions.

Speaking in-depth about Faulkner's situation, McCann says the defender's representative informed him that he intended to reject the offer. But he says negotiations are still ongoing and hopes that "common sense prevails", warning that if the youngster wishes to move on that any potential future employer may have to pay compensation to Rovers.

"Bobby had a similar sort of deadline to the others. We didn't hear back and then we did, from his agent to say he'll reject the contract offered," McCann said.

"It's a bit of a tricky one really. Because do we see Bobby breaking into our first team next year? Probably not. Do we see him signing with us and having another good six months on loan in the National League or League Two? Yes.

"He's a 20-year-old boy and we feel there's a lot of development in him, hence why we offered him a new contract. So I'm hoping common sense prevails but if it doesn't the club hold compensation on Bobby which they're entitled to.

"What that looks like in a tribunal I don't know but I'd imagine it'll be a fee that would put off a lot of teams in the National League and League Two. So the ball in his court and we want to help him and progress.

"He needs to understand where he is at this stage of his career. We helped him last year with loans but we wanted to make him (take) that next step with us. We'll see how we go."