Darlington manager Mark Cooper has explained that a change in priorities in his summer recruitment has resulted in Paul Terry being shown the exit at The Northern Echo Arena.

The boss has withdrawn the contract offer that he originally made to the midfielder so that he can focus on strengthening what he believes to be more essential areas of the squad.

Cooper says that he would prefer to sign a centre-back and a striker, explaining that it has been necessary to prioritise those positions ahead of Terry.

Four days after the end of last season Cooper offered the midfielder, as well as Paul Arnison, Sam Russell and Aman Verma, one-year deals.

Russell has since put pen to paper while Cooper says Arnison will also be staying, although Verma turned down Darlington’s offer.

But the manager has changed his mind about Terry who is disappointed with Darlington’s decision.

Speaking on social network website Twitter, he said: “Just don’t understand what’s happened, was really looking forward to next season as well.

“Thanks to all the Darlo fans for their kind words of support, wish you had the chance to see more of me.”

Terry missed a large chunk of last season after suffering a cruciate knee ligament injury in October, after what had been an impressive start to the season for the former Rushden and Yeovil midfielder. But he worked hard to return to action in the closing weeks of the campaign and was used as a substitute in the FA Trophy final.

Cooper explained his change of tack, saying: “We spoke to him at the end of the season and verbally offered him a new contract.

“But as time has gone on I’ve had a think about it and the money I’d got available I need to spend on a centre-back and a centre-forward.

“There’s nothing sinister, it’s just that we’ve got to prioritise.

“Paul Terry did really well for us and he did well to come back from his operation last October.

“But if you look at the squad, we’ve got the likes of Paul Arnison and Greg Taylor that can come into midfield, plus there’s already Kris Taylor, Jamie Chandler and John McReady.”

Arnison is keen to stay at the Arena, and Cooper, who has recently returned from a week in Portugal, said: “I’ve been away but as far as I know Arnison has signed, that one should be done.”

Cooper hopes to soon make a breakthrough in his quest to bring in a defender.

He said: “Right now we’re closer to signing a centre-back than we are a centre-forward. We’ve got offers in for three defenders and we’ve given them a deadline for when we want an answer.

“So we’ll find out soon whether they will accept it or whether they are going to hedge their bets.

“There’s a lot of players available and we’ve spoken to quite a few – centre-backs and centre-forwards.

“We’ve got two goalkeepers, Greg Taylor and Arnison can play right-back, we’ve got Aaron Brown and Phil Gray for left-back, we’re short of one centre-back, we’re okay in midfield and we need another striker.

“Plus, there’s always the loan market too.”

But Cooper has quashed claims that he will be signing striker Jason Walker from Luton Town: “There’s a release clause in his contract which is a lot more than we could ever think about paying so that won’t be happening.”