Kidderminster’s released first-team stars will be free to go by the end of the week – but manager Mark Yates has warned them it’s not going to be easy to get another club.

Harriers have given eight players the chop, who are all set to leave and seek new employers with offers of contracts not currently forthcoming from Aggborough.

Of those two have already gone, centre-half Luke Jones has joined Mansfield while right-back Keith Lowe is back in the Football League at Hereford.

But highly-rated goalkeeper Adam Bartlett, 20-goal striker Justin Richards, Michael Carr, Martin Brittain, Chris McPhee and Craig Armstrong face an uncertain future.

Now their soon-to-be-former boss has warned that football’s recession could leave them in a tight spot this summer – and they will be far from alone.

Yates said: “When I speak to players and agents, all I am hearing is ‘this club and that club are interested,’ but no-one is really moving. They may well be the interest out there, but no-one is putting any firm offers on the table at the moment.

“A lot of clubs are tightening their belts and that could well be a reality check for a lot of people – and I don’t just mean my players by that.

“Clubs will have far more to choose from when it comes to recruitment and, inevitably, some players are going to find it hard to get fixed up as a result.”