Poppies boss Cox pays tribute to departing duo

Aaron O'Connor has been released by Kettering Town. Picture by Peter Short

The Poppies boss has started the process of building his squad for the next National League North campaign by offering deals to eight of the current squad while three are already under contract.

But O’Connor and Nti were the main casualties of the rebuild.

Experienced frontman O’Connor made 137 appearances for the club, scoring 67 goals in the process after joining in September 2016.

Nti was one of the club’s summer signings last year as they prepared for a return to the National League North and he made an immediate impression when scoring the dramatic late winner against AFC Telford United on the opening day of the season. He went on to make 33 appearances for Kettering, scoring six goals in total.

Cox said: “It’s always a strange part of the job for me.

“It’s never nice when you talk to players to tell them that we won’t be offering them anything for next season.

“But I always try to do things professionally.

“I always try to ring the player personally and I know other managers have different ways of doing it. But I have always worked on the principle of respect.

“Whether you are giving a player good news or bad news, it should be done in the right way.

Aaron and Dan have been excellent servants to the club.

“Aaron scored a lot of goals and has had an amazing impact on the recent success of the club.

“It’s never easy but the club brought me in to make some big decisions and I have made them.

“I get along with both players, they have both worked extremely hard since I have been here and I can’t speak highly enough of either of them.

“But tough decisions have had to be made and we wish them all the best for the future.”