Neil Lennon has his fingers crossed that Joe Ledley and Georgios Samaras will stay with Celtic.
Welsh midfielder Ledley is a target for Crystal Palace while Greek forward is attracting interest from Atletico Madrid and Hull City but Lennon is determined to keep his current group of players together past this season.
"Joe has showed great mental strength, it must be a very unsettling period for him and for Georgios Samaras as well. You can't have all the players leaving for big money, or bringing in players to develop for a couple of years," he said after the 1-0 win over Partick Thistle on New Year's Day.
"As for Samaras, again we need to speak to his representatives and see how the land lies. At the minute he's unsettled and a little bit insecure about things. We need to try to get him happy again.
"I need a spine to stay together, the likes of Scott Brown, Ledley, Kris Commons, Samaras - if we can get him - and a few others, because they have been big players for us."
