Dowie said: "We would like to have had tied them up, but the play-off situation made life more difficult for everybody at the club. We would like to keep Tony, Michael, Aki and Julian. They have been very much at the heart of what we've been doing.
"We have players' contracts to sort out now and then on to the Premier League." Finnish midfielder Riihilahti, who joined from Norwegian side Valerenga in 2001 is anxious for a hasty resolution to his situation.
The 27-year-old said: "I would like to stay and the manager has made it clear to me over the last few months that he wants me to stay.
"This is a great club and there are great times ahead. I hope things go as they should and I am looking forward to playing for this club for a few more years."
Popovic is another who is keen to put pen to paper, even though he has been frustrated by the delay.
He said: "I would like to have signed two or three months ago but for various reasons it was left.
"The chairman did not want to break up what was going well and wanted to leave it all until the end of the season." Hughes also wants to stay having seen his career transformed by Dowie and his fitness coach John Harbin.
The former Wimbledon midfielder said: "I wish I'd have met them 15 years earlier. I'm 32 now and they've revitalised me. I could go for another five or six years now. They've been incredible for me."
