Rovers will remain in contact with their released youngsters to aid their search for new clubs this summer.

Joe Grayson, Stefan Mols, Lewis Thompson, Brad Lyons and Ben Paton were among those to have been let go by the club as their contracts drew to a close. Grayson and Mols in particular have spent over a decade with the club, and been regulars within the Under-23s set-up, but failed to make a mark at first-team level.

Lyons was brought in from Coleraine three years ago, and will aim to win promotion via the League Two play-offs with Morecambe during his loan spell there before searching for a new club.

And Under-23s boss Billy Barr says the club will do all they can to help in their search to find a new home once their time with Rovers comes to an end.

“Whenever we let anybody go, whether it’s Covid or not, we still try and stay in touch, help and guide,” Barr said.

“There will be some that don’t get anything and we’ve told them not to lose touch, because it might be that at some point someone might be asking for a player of that ilk, and their agent hasn’t made contact with.

“So we’ll always try and help.”

Six of Barr’s Under-23s squad agreed new deals with the club, while five Under-18s were offered their first professional contracts.

But the number of players let go is higher than in recent seasons, with the retained list revealing five members of the senior squad will also not see their deals renewed, while captain Elliott Bennett also faces an uncertain future.

Clubs are looking to cut their cloth to deal with the financial impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, which could lead to difficulties in free agents getting fixed up, but Barr is sure it doesn’t need to be the end of the road for those moving on.

“The ones that are leaving us, hopefully they can get something somewhere, and the ones that are with us can build again next year,” the Under-23s boss added.

Meanwhile, Luke Brennan is expected to back in pre-season training after a frustrating campaign.

The teenage winger made his first-team debut in October against Nottingham Forest, but then failed to have the impact Rovers had hoped during a loan spell with National League North side AFC Fylde.

He returned in January, but then sustained a hamstring injury that ended his season following the Under-23s victory over West Ham in February.

On the plan ahead for Brennan, Barr said: “Luke is back on the grass running and I’d fully expect us to be around us in pre-season.

“Whether he does everything with us, that will be left to the physios, but it’s pleasing to see him out on the grass.”