Dependable Darlington left-back Paul Heckingbottom has denied he's about to join Burnley, but admits he will shortly be speaking to prospective new clubs.

Heckingbottom was linked with the First Division club at the weekend, but the 24-year-old says he knows nothing about the story which came just 24 hours after he played his last game for the Quakers at Oxford.

"I didn't know anything about it," he said. "My dad told me about it being in the paper but I haven't spoken with any clubs yet."

He will be on the move this summer after three years at Feethams having turned down the chance of extending his stay in the hope of earning a move to a higher division. Last night he was remaining tight-lipped over which clubs are hoping to sign him, but it is believed as many as six have shown an interest in the player who leaves Feethams on a Bosman free transfer

"I haven't spoken to any other clubs yet but hopefully I'll be doing that soon," said Heckingbottom, whose Darlington contract expires on June 30.

"I don't want to say too much in case I tempt fate and something falls through but that game at Oxford was my last for Darlington.

"Even if all the off-the-field stuff hadn't happened I still would have been looking to go to another club because I'm in the Third Division and would like to play higher up.

"I could have signed an extension after Christmas with Darlington or a pre-contract agreement with another club but I wanted to keep my options open. Now I'm in a good position because I'm only 24 and have been playing first-team football regularly."

However, he refuted claims he asked for a 25 per cent pay increase to stay with Darlington, and said that no contract negotiations ever took place. He explained: "I never spoke to the chairman about a new contract. I was approached by Mick Tait and Tommy Taylor but I just told them that I wanted to keep my options open."

Heckingbottom's exit has been slightly overshadowed by the furore surrounding fans' favourite Craig Liddle's possible departure to Hull.

"I'll always consider Darlington as my first club, even though I've been to a few other places," he said.

"Darlington is the place where I first played regular football and I was captain a few times. What I'll miss the most is the crack with all the rest of the lads because I've mad a lot of friends at the club.

"If we hadn't been such a close group of lads the club could have gone down. We wanted to play well for each other and the fans."

Read more about the Quakers here.