Dean Saunders surprised at no late bids for Sam Morsy at Chesterfield

MK Dons had offers of £150,000 and £300,000 for the defensive midfielder, who is in the final year of his contract, turned down by the Spireites in July - approaches which Saunders described at the time as "insulting".

A handful of other Championship clubs were linked with Morsy and Press Association Sport understands Brighton and Preston were contemplating making a late move for the 23-year-old.

However, no bids materialised before Tuesday's 6pm cut-off point a nd Saunders now hopes to re-open talks with the player about a new contract at the Proact Stadium.

He said: ''We never got any calls for Sam. I thought we would, but we never.

''I was surprised no one came in for him if I'm being honest.

"But we didn't have any more offers for Sam and I'm a bit puzzled why not because of the way he's been playing, but I'm also delighted he's staying.

''I want him to sign a new contract with Chesterfield and that's what I'll be trying to get him to do."