Wanderers chairman Phil Gartside is hopeful Mike Whitlow will follow Anthony Barness' lead by putting his name to a new contract.

Barness signed two days ago for another two years at the Reebok and Wanderers hope Whitlow will accept his offer - reported to be significantly smaller than his last contract - in the next few weeks.

Wanderers are mindful that Whitlow, a great servant to the club during the last six years, is now 35 years old and was less involved in the first team last season than in previous campaigns.

He is understood to be unhappy with the offer, which he is reported to have said is half of what he was on before, and that he will continue playing whether it will be at the Reebok or elsewhere.

Gartside said: "We are delighted to have Tony Barness on board and hopefully Mike Whitlow will do the same.

"I don't know how Mike feels about our offer because I haven't spoken to him but we have made what we believe to be a reasonable offer.

"He has to think about what stage he is at in his career and the fact that he played 20 games for us last season and not 48."