Ian Burchnall says top scorer Kyle Wootton knows how highly he values him at Notts County but insisted their contract discussions will stay between them.
Wootton's current deal expires at the end of the season meaning he will be free to leave the club for nothing unless he decides to remain at Meadow Lane.
The former Scunthorpe forward is on course to hit 20 goals this season in what has been another prolific campaign for the 25-year-old.
He has been linked with moves to Portsmouth while Championship pair Huddersfield and Blackburn have been reportedly monitoring his progress.
Asked if there would soon be any movement on contract discussions and whether he wanted to keep him at the club, head coach Burchnall said: "Absolutely and Woots knows that.
"I speak to him on a regular basis, and we have a great dialogue so there's no problem with that.
"But right now he's focused on his football and trying to score goals and help us get promoted.
"And I think Wootts knows exactly where we are with him. That's it.
"It's normal for players' contracts to be running out and it's normal to have discussions with them.
"And I guess those discussions are between me and Wootts and that's how they stay."
Wootton has proven to be a shrewd investment by Notts having arrived from Scunthorpe in a deal believed to be worth £60,000 in January 2020.
He has hit double figures in each of his last three seasons leaving Notts fans worried they could lose one of their star players for nothing come the end of the season.
But Burchnall insists the focus is on what is happening on the pitch with the club in the chase for promotion back to the Football League.
"Right now our priority is trying to gain promotion and to try and maximise every game," he said.
"I prefer that the majority of my discussions with Woots are around his game, how to improve him, how to get goals and how to help us.
"We value him really highly, he knows that. But right now, I think everybody is just focused on one objective and rightly so."
Wootton is expected to lead the line for Notts tomorrow when they face Eastleigh at Meadow Lane where the Magpies are aiming for a third straight victory.
They face a Spitfires side who have hit a bad run of form which led to the departure of their manager Ben Strevens.
But Burchnall is expecting a tough examination.
"One thing I know about Eastleigh is that they're extremely well organised every time we play them. They're really, really well drilled, well organised defensively and very difficult to break down".
