DEFENDER Matt Preston and academy product Kai Lissimore are among the players leaving relegated Kidderminster Harriers.

Experienced manager Phil Brown, who has himself signed a two-year contract, has offered new deals for next season to keepers Christian Dibble and Tom Palmer, defender Alex Penny, midfielder Shane Byrne and forwards Ashley Hemmings and Amari Morgan-Smith.

Krystian Pearce has also got terms on the table to join in a coaching capacity at Harriers who return to National League North after just one season in non-league's top flight.

Young talents Josh Bishop, Samson Hewett, Seb Thompson and Noah Rubio have signed contracts for next season.

Defenders Reiss McNally, Caleb Richards and Christian Oxlade-Chamberlain, midfielders Zak Brown and Jack Lambert and forwards Kieran Phillips, Kobe Hall and Gold Omotayo are already on deals.

Midfield man Lissimore and Preston are joined by defenders Nat Knight-Percival and Sammy Robinson, midfielders Regan Griffiths and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas and forwards Ethan Freemantle and Gerry McDonagh in departing.

Loanees Todd Miller, Cole Kpekawa, Charlie Weston, Sam Bellis and Owen Hesketh return to their parent clubs.

Boss Brown said: “I’ve had enough time to assess the situation, having inherited a team that was at the bottom of the table and there for a reason.

“We managed to raise everybody’s expectations for eight or nine games but got what we deserved in the end and because of that you find out more about the players you want at the football club for next season and those you don’t.

“That’s not a personal thing, it’s part of a manager’s life and part and parcel of the game. The recruitment policy at the club is now almost fully in place.

"I have two very experienced scouts, one I’ve worked with for a number of years and another I’ve known for a number of years, and that type of information is priceless as a manager.

“Recruitment always leads to the success or failure of a club, I know that better than anybody which is why you have to put that policy in place as quickly as possible.

“I didn’t know what this level was like when I came in — you have to get your head around the standard and the type of players who are successful and get as many of them into your football club as possible.

“We brought in four or five players on loan last season and I was probably happy with two of them. The others didn’t really impress as well as I’d have expected but that shows you what the recruitment policy will be like. It needed to be improved.

“We need to need to get six or seven new faces through the door who understand what it means to play for Kidderminster Harriers and to be successful at this level.”