ANDY Procter has been given until Monday to decide whether he will sign a new contract to stay at Accrington Stanley.

The midfielder is out of contract and admitted last week that he was considering his future after other clubs expressed an interest in him.

Stanley have dramatically reduced their playing budget for next season because of growing financial problems, meaning that Procter will have to take a pay cut if he is to accept the two-year deal on the table at the Fraser Eagle Stadium.

The 26-year-old, who is thought to be interesting Rochdale, played a key part in Stanley’s rise out of non-league but the Reds cannot wait forever for a decision on his future.

“I haven’t heard any more from him but we’ll have to give him a deadline because we’ll have to offer the money to someone else,” said assistant manager Jimmy Bell.

“I think it will probably be over the weekened or on Monday.”

The Reds, who are due to take their squad to a boot camp in Colchester during pre-season, are waiting for a final decision from a number of other players - including goalkeeper Kenny Arthur and midfielder John Miles.

But Bell is hopeful that the winding up proceedings issued against the club will not hamper their attempts to sign former Carlisle midfielder Luke Joyce.

The fact that Stanley’s assets have been frozen while they attempt to agree a deal to pay off an outstanding £300,000 tax bill has not helped, though, even if they are attempting to continue negotiations.

Asked whether he feared losing players because of the current financial problems, Bell said: “It’s their choice.

“It was a shock when the news came out because I didn’t know much about it to tell the truth.

“I have had various phone calls from players asking what’s going on, but we’ve just had to say to them that the club are confident everything will be okay.

“Obviously the club knew about this when they drew up the budget and we’ve just got to carry on exactly as we have been doing until told otherwise.

“Luke (Joyce) has gone on holiday but he seems very interested in coming.

“I don’t know whether he’s had other offers because they don’t tell you these things, but we’re still confident about that one.

“Nothing’s moved on with player negotiations though. A lot of the players don’t really want to commit themselves.

“It’s all been pretty much put on hold while the club do what they have to do to get things sorted.”