Could Jatta and Dennis be sold to fund Notts' promotion?

Notts County cannot rule out selling top scorers Alassana Jatta and Matthew Dennis in January if it can help fund the club's push for League Two promotion, says Magpies director of football Richard Montague.

Jatta and Dennis have scored 18 league goals between them this season, and both are expected to attract interest when the winter transfer window opens.

It was just 11 months ago that Notts turned down a bid from Plymouth Argyle for Gambia international striker Jatta, who has only added to his reputation with eight goals in 16 League Two appearance this term.

Dennis has only been with Notts since the summer, but as the Magpies' leading scorer with 10 goals he is tipped to also attract offers.

"In an ideal world we keep them, but it's also a reality for every club that if you receive a bid that far exceeds your valuation of a player then fair enough, and that player moves on them and you reinvest that money and try and get stronger," Montague told BBC Radio Nottingham.

"There could be a situation where two incredible offers come in for those players and then it makes sense for the club to wish them well and move them on.

"If we thought that there was an opportunity to increase our promotion chance, we wouldn't rule anything out."

What and when any offers are made for the players will determine how Notts will deal with approaches.

Jatta was said to have attracted "very good bids" in January this year but was kept at Meadow Lane because approaches made for him came too late in the transfer window, robbing the Magpies of a chance to find equally prolific cover.

"Context is the most important thing," Montague said in his wide-ranging interview, which is now available on the Notts County BBC Sounds page.

"There are situations where you'll receive offers maybe in the last two or three days of a window that maybe would have been acceptable in the first week of a window when you when you can replace those players.

"It's on the proviso that we'd be bringing in replacements either in those positions or other areas of the squad where we thought we could at least be as strong as before, whilst making sure that our budget in future years is going to be even more competitive than it is right now."

The director or football, who is in his second spell at Meadow Lane after seven months with Championship side Swansea, said "every decision will be made trying to balance" the club's immediate promotion aspirations and longer-term prospects and financial health of the club.

"It would be incorrect to say that at any point have we prioritised the longer-term future ahead of trying to get promoted in any season," he said.

"I think all of the decisions we've made in Januarys have still been with the mindset that what gives us the best chance to get promoted this season."