Club captain Iain Harvey has hit out at rumours he has played his last game for Chippenham Town and says he is desperate for a new deal at Hardenhuish Park.

The 32-year-old midfielder is one of the Bluebirds’ longest serving players but has missed the most of 2009 with a foot injury.

Brief cameos in the final two games of the season led to speculation he was saying goodbye to the Chippenham supporters but Harvey says that is not the case.

“I definitely want to stay, 100 per cent, I’ve told them that all along,” he said.

“When I have played this year I think my form was good and I was enjoying playing but injuries are a part of the game.”

He didn’t think the injury took so long because of his age, it was just one of those things. “I probably didn’t help myself by coming back too early and maybe I could have done more to sort it out but I definitely want to stay here,” he said.

The club has revealed the playing budget will be trimmed in the summer but Harvey does not believe this will force people out and feels the club has shown in patches this year that they are good enough to go up.

“I honestly think a lot of other clubs are going to be struggling with their budgets,” he said. “If we can keep the majority of the team together and just add maybe one or two then, whoever is here next year, they’ll definitely be there.

“I don’t want to held to ransom but you’ve got to look about and think ‘where else is there to go?’ “There aren’t that many places where you’ll have a chance of winning something and a decent budget. We get good fans as well so people want to play here, so I think we’ll be strong next year.

“You’ve got to expect a bit of a pay cut, we’ve already had one this season. If it was ridiculous you may have to look elsewhere but hopefully it won’t be as I think a lot of the boys are keen to stay.”