Butcher waits until end of May

Inverness manager Terry Butcher has given his out-of-contract players until the end of the month to tell him whether they are staying.

Butcher has offered the likes of Greg Tansey, Jonny Hayes, Ross Tokely, Gregory Tade, Thomas Piermayr, Billy McKay and Owain Tudur Jones new deals.

However, some are attracting interest from elsewhere with St Johnstone keen on Tade and Aberdeen among the clubs interested in Hayes.

Butcher told the club's official website: "We've made what we think are decent offers in a challenging financial environment.

"We're waiting for replies. It's understandable that players needed time to make a decision.

"But we have the live possibility of bringing in new players and we're keen to finalise the squad much earlier than we managed to do last season.

"We have nine players already signed up for the 2012-13 campaign and we have new faces in mind.

"May 31 is the cut-off point for the new contracts for players who were with us this season. I hope they will come back to me by that date and let me know where they stand.

"It would be nice if most of them decide to stay but it's their choice.

"Once that happens, we will know where we are in terms of squad numbers and can make progress on bringing players in.

"We've been advanced in doing our detailed homework this time and we have prospective new players earmarked.

"We're looking at new faces for quite a few sections of the team but it depends whether players in those positions re-sign for us."