Alex Morris says tough decisions had to be made over senior players.

Alex Morris says that the decision to release some of the club’s older professionals such as Chris Porter and Luke Murphy were made purely because ‘we cannot offer them regular football next season. ‘

Porter departs the club after five seasons and 54 goals and captain Luke Murphy leaves after two seasons following his return to the club where he made the breakthrough as a young professional.

Morris admits that making decisions on 9 of his squad was not nice but he felt ‘comfortable making the decisions’ because they were made for the club.

The Crewe Alexandra manager told us: “I have led some of the more senior players go and there are different reasons why but ultimately the decisions made were for the benefit of the club. The reasons for Chris (Porter) have been well documented and with the others it was a question of not being able to promise them football next year.

“We have got an idea on who we want to bring in and we think those players will be a good fit for the club. With those targets in mind, we weren’t able to hold a place in the squad for them because we can only hold so many.

“You have to be ruthless with it sometimes and that is the nature of football. Players leave and although it is never nice, you have to be comfortable with the decisions you make. “