Bolton in talks to extend Emile Heskey’s contract but release 13 players

Bolton Wanderers are in talks to extend the contracts of Emile Heskey and Eidur Gudjohnsen after confirming they will release 13 players when their contracts expire on 30 June.

Heskey, 37, made a memorable start to his Bolton career, scoring on his debut on Boxing Day but has failed to find the net in his subsequent 17 appearances for the Trotters while the 36-year-old Gudjohnsen has scored seven goals in 25 matches since returning for a second spell with the club in December.

Bolton are also discussing a possible extension with the former Swansea midfielder Darren Pratley but Jermaine Beckford, who has spent the majority of the season on loan at Preston and last weekend helped North End book their first Wembley trip since 1994 with two goals in their League One play-off semi-final second-leg win over Chesterfield is among those being released.

Fellow senior players Matt Mills, Keith Andrews, Craig Davies and Andrew Lonergan will also depart at the end of next month, the Championship club revealed on Friday when they officially announced their retained list.

Mills captained the side for the latter half of the most recent campaign, scoring seven goals in a total of 94 appearances for the north-west outfit, while Andrews played 29 times and found the net on four occasions for the Trotters. Davies featured in 58 games, netting 11 goals, while Lonergan turned out 62 times for the club.

Chris Lester, Georg Iliev, Luke Woodland, Glenn Matthews, Ryan Sellers, James Ball, Carl Kennedy and Kieran Nolan will also leave.