“But Jason De Vos has come in to replace John, while Jermaine will be replaced as I've already said this week. Jermaine, near as damn it, played in all our games last season, but John only managed 18 league starts because he was out injured.
“In fact, if you take John's starts and add them to those made by the other five players to leave - Alun Armstrong, Marcus Bent, Chris Bart-Williams, Martijn Reuser and now Chris Makin - you get a grand total of 59.
Royle also said that he may be bringing in more than one additional midfielder to the club this Summer to cover the loss of Jermaine Wright, Martijn Reuser and Chris Bart-Williams: “My priority remains midfield.
"I want at least one, maybe two, players for that area of the team and I have already made moves in that direction for a specific target.”