Town have confirmed the departures of out-of-contract quartet Freddie Sears, James Wilson, Emyr Huws and Tristan Nydam.

Sears, 31, had been expected to go having been in and out of the side this season. The striker had been with the Blues since January 2015 when he was part of the side which reached the Championship play-offs.

The former West Ham trainee made 151 starts and 66 sub appearances for the Blues, scoring 34 times.

Centre-half Wilson, 32, named Player of the Year at the weekend, joined the club in the summer of 2019 following a successful trial having left Lincoln City.

The once-capped Welsh international made 47 starts and two sub appearances, scoring twice.

Midfielder Huws, 27, joined the Blues initially on loan from Cardiff in January 2017 and impressed in the remaining months of that season, most famously scoring the third goal in the 3-1 win over Newcastle at Portman Road.

The Wales international joined on a permanent basis that summer on a free transfer but injury limited his involvement in the following campaigns and his exit comes as little shock.

Overall, the former Manchester City youngster made 43 starts and 12 sub appearances, scoring five goals.

Nydam, 21, came through the academy but saw his progress hit by a broken leg and damaged ankle ligaments suffered in pre-season ahead of 2019/20.

The Zimbabwe-born Colchester-raised midfielder returned to first team action last month and looked to have caught manager Cook’s eye, so it had been anticipated that he would win a new deal.

Overall, the former England U19 international made 14 starts and eight sub appearances for the club having come through the academy.

As reported earlier, Town have taken the options on Kayden Jackson and Janoi Donacien’s contracts and they are yet to make announcements on Teddy Bishop, Toto Nsiala, Gwion Edwards, Aaron Drinan, Ben Morris, Idris El Mizouni, Liam Gibbs, Bailey Clements, Levi Andoh, Bert White and Tommy Hughes.

Of those, Town have options to keep Bishop, Nsiala, Morris, El Mizouni, Clements, Andoh, White and Hughes.

We understand Bishop has made enough appearances to automatically trigger an additional year with the Blues and a number of other players' options have also been exercised. As previously reported, young midfielder Gibbs has already been offered a contract.

Manager Cook, who has made little secret of his frustrations and dissatisfaction with the players he inherited, met with the squad individually today.

TWTD understands that in addition to the released out-of contract players, a number of those whose deals still have time to run have been told that the club will listen to offers should they come in.

Meanwhile, departing loanees Mark McGuinness and Troy Parrott have tweeted their thoughts as they leave the Blues.

Photo: Matchday Images

Bazza8564 added 08:36 - May 11 Agree with the sentiment here, Nydam I think is unlucky and Wilson possibly too, but we have to think ahead and PC will already have a very clear eye (if not more) on his targets. The lads need to play football, with the squad size we've had this season, its pointless for the player and the club renewing deals when the likelihood of playing is so low. I trust PC, I will be online ASAP to renew my ticket for the first time in a very long while next month, at last we seem to have a clear vision top to bottom of where we want to go, and backers sufficiently well heeled to get us there

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ringwoodblue added 08:55 - May 11 Like most others I'm surprised to see our best defender (Wilson) and one of our best prospects (Nydam) have been released. This is a mistake imho. As for Jackson and Donacien, the decision is purely financial as they want to recoup some of the 2.3million we spent on them. Don't expect either player to stay.
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GSH71 added 10:45 - May 11 All well enough , getting rid of players but you have to get new recruits that will be tricky following our recent history in this league
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JewellintheTown added 11:05 - May 11 We've only just finished the season. Lots of opinions going around on released/ kept players that will never be tested to be proved. What's done is done so no point mulling over it. PC will know the current bigger picture than we all ever will, so leave him to it. Give Cook a bit of credit. Time will tell. Best opportunity for a proper re-build than we've ever had. Lets not carry sentiment and low expectations. Start of next season and the squad will be in a much better place than last month. Just sit tight.

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runningout added 11:13 - May 11 None of us are know-it-alls. My first views were quite damning of limited players leaving. As not been impressed with anyone. I better calm down and shut up
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istanblue added 13:56 - May 11 Very harsh on Nydam and Wilson. Nydam was praised for showing the right kind of mentality and desire that this club needed going forward, so it seems very strange he is now being released. Unless there are concerns over his long-term fitness then I think Cook has got this one wrong. As for Wilson, he has just been awarded our POTY and is perfectly adequate backup at this level. Sears and Huws are past it so no surprise about them.

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Linkboy13 added 15:24 - May 11 Lots of people on here seem to know more about the players than Cook, but i suppose we are all entitled to our own little opinion.
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