Darlington have offered new contracts to three of their players plus Aman Verma who spent much of the season on loan from Leicester.

Manager Mark Cooper has offered one-year deals to Paul Arnison, Paul Terry and Sam Russell while he is hoping Verma becomes his first new recruit of the summer.

The midfielder hardly missed a game after joining last November when one of his first matches saw him score the winner in the first round of the FA Trophy against Tamworth.

The culmination of the Trophy run came last Saturday at Wembley when Verma came off the bench during the first half of the 1-0 win over Mansfield Town.

But the 23-year-old’s contract at Leicester expires this summer and he has been told he is surplus to requirements at his hometown club.

Arnison, 33, and Terry, 32, are likely to sign while Russell, 28, has made it clear he is enjoying his second spell at The Northern Arena.

Reserve keeper Danzelle St Louis-Hamilton has already put pen to paper on a one-year contract.

In contrast to the last two summers at Darlington, when adminsitration and uncertainty and undermined pre-season preparations, the squad already has a healthy look to it in terms of numbers.

As well as St Louis-Hamilton, already committed to Quakers for 2011-12 are Ian Miller, Aaron Brown, Adam Quinn, Jamie Chandler, Marc Bridge-Wilkinson, Liam Hatch, John Campbell, Tommy Wright, Greg Taylor, Michael Smith, John McReady and Phil Gray.

It is understood that a decision is yet to be made on the futures of Gary Smith and Michael Brough, both of whom are currently injured.

But Chris Senior, Chris Moore, Josh Gray, Kevin Austin and Gareth Waite have all been released.

Senior, scorer of Darlington’s winner at Wembley, spoke of his disappointment in yesterday’s The Northern Echo, and he has since visited the Arena to say farewell to club staff.

Cooper said: “I feel for the lads, but Chris wasn’t part of my plans for next season before Saturday’s events.

“It wasn’t right to change my mind on the basis of one goal, but we thank Chris and all the players for their contribution this season and we wish them all our best wishes for the future.”

Moore also played at Wembley after a earning a firstteam recall in the closing weeks of the season, playing in the final four matches.

But having been on the sidelines for a lengthy spell, his release from the club is not a major surprise.

Waite is released after playing in five games this season.

He has been hampered by a knee injury sustained a year ago which has since required two bouts of surgery.

The midfielder, who joined from Spennymoor Town during Steve Staunton’s reign, now requires a third operation which would again leave him sidelined for a lengthy spell.

The manager added: “It’s not a part of the job I enjoy, we’re talking about players’ livelihoods and telling them they’re not going to be with us next season isn’t nice.

“But we have to look at the big picture and make difficult decisions for the benefit of the club.

“Saturday’s win was brilliant and we all enjoyed it – the memories will be cherished by everyone, and the turn-out at the civic reception was great.

“But we need to put plans in place as soon as possible, and it was only fair to the players that we dealt with this sooner rather than later.”