Not personal - it is business: Paul Hurst with departing message to Shrewsbury Town's released players

Salop released eight first-team players on Saturday as they wrapped up their League One campaign.

Tom Flanagan, Elliott Bennett and Tom Bayliss were arguably the biggest names not to be offered a new deal and Hurst has said all the players are ‘good guys’ and they have worked hard under him since he took over as head coach at the end of January.

“First and foremost. It is not personal – it is a business decision as such,” he said when asked his message was to Shrewsbury’s released players.

“At the same time, I have not encountered anyone and I mean this truthfully, that I dislike.

“They have all been good guys. They have not caused me an ounce of trouble in terms of anything at the training ground or anything like that.

“I want them to go and get somewhere else and kick on.

“Hopefully some of the messages we have perhaps given them over the time we have worked with them – whether it is instantly or whether it is in a year or two years, I hope they get it at some point.

“And that is only some of them. You know what it is like when you are a young person and you sometimes feel like you know best or you want to blame other people.

“Just hopefully we have added some knowledge and nohow about how you go about your business on a daily basis – not just when there is a game – every day to try and improve to try and get better.

“To understand about setting standards, and the importance of listening when we are walking through things and taking information on board.

“I am pretty certain that all of them that have had that message will get a football club and I promise you I will not be wishing bad on them.”

And the Town boss says he wants the players who have left the club to go on and have good careers elsewhere.

“If they go on and do really well and people say I have made a mistake then I can live with that,” he continued. “Like I said, sometimes I think you have to go through experiences to improve and get better – sometimes at a different club with a different system or different manager might get the better out of some people. Ultimately we are always trying to improve people and make them understand their profession. Not just tactically but what needs to go into the hopefully go onto to have a long career.”

After a long hard season, Cheltenham Town were the team who ultimately picked up the last relegation place as Burton and Cambridge stayed up. The result meant Town finished four points clear of the drop zone.