Gary McAllister will have to wait to the end of the season to learn whether he has won a new contract at Coventry City.

Coventry’s skipper, 35 on Christmas Day, is playing his best football since joining Coventry from Leeds United three years ago.

He is keen to persuade Coventry to give him a new one-year contract when his current deal expires at the end of the season.

But Coventry’s manager Gordon Strachan, his former team mate for Leeds and Scotland, says:

"It is up to the two of us to sit down later on. We have agreed we should not talk about anything until right at the end of the season to see how we feel then.

"He has to say what he wants to do and I have to say what I want to do with my team. He is playing well now, but we should not make false promises to each other. That is only right."

Coventry have a defence crisis against Southampton at The Dell. David Burrows, Marcus Hall, Richard Shaw and Marc Edworthy are injured and the back line will therefore be Paul Telfer, Gary Breen, Paul Williams and Steve Froggatt.

It will be Froggatt’s first start since returning from England duty against Scotland.

Burrows has been ordered to rest for three months because of damaged knee ligaments, Edworthy and Hall are on the way back from ankle and knee injuries.

Shaw, a virtual ever-present since his move from Crystal Palace four years ago, has missed the last two matches.

Strachan commented:

"He has been playing in some pain from his knee for a long time and we thought he would be okay if he rested. But the medical staff has decided he needs a keyhole operation to take a look inside."