David Artell’s decision to extend Chris Porter’s stay with the club for at least 12 months is a reflection of the player’s professionalism. The 37-year-old will enter into his fifth campaign and has 48 goals to his name for the Railwaymen since signing from Colchester United in 2017.

A foot injury sustained in last season’s pre-season limited his real involvement until October but the Wigan-born forward still went on to score 7 goals and provide that reliability whenever chosen ahead of leading scorer, Mikael Mandron or when partnering him up front.

Artell told the club’s official website: “The fact that Chris scored seven goals in 16 starts will do for a start. There are not that many around who can do that.

“Is he going to play six games on the spin? Probably not but he is a good player who knows where the net is. He is still coachable and he still wants to improve. I am sure he would have learned a lot since he came here and he has great experience and knowledge that he can pass on to others.

“I think we have both learned our lesson from last pre-season when I think he joined in every session and then he injured his foot. He have to manage him better and he knows as a top professional how to prepare for games. We have to make sure that Chris is ready for matchdays. We will look to get that right this season.

“He has shown that he is good enough to score goals in League One and that is testimony to how good a professional he is.”