Alfreton Town manager Gary Mills has released midfielder Steve Melton and striker Jermaine Palmer in a bid to reduce his wage bill.

The Nationwide North club made an exit from the FA Cup last week and the two non contract players have been the first to be shown the exit.

Palmer made eleven appearances and scored one goal, while Melton made a good start to the season but in the end only managed to score one goal in twelve appearances.

Chairman Wayne Bradley explained: "After an FA Cup exit you can't afford to be blase and just think 'Oh well, that's it, let's just carry on regardless'.

"You have to react and we are basically cutting our cloth accordingly.

"We have taken our time and assessed our situation. It isn't a knee-jerk reaction, but some decisions will be forced upon us because of circumstances.

"Gary is being asked to identify cloth cutting exercises - not in a dramatic nature - but cutting nevertheless in a sensible nature.

"It isn't just cuts from the squad, things are also being restructured differently behind the scenes. There is a lot of cost that the club is incurring which can be shaved.

"We are still a football club which is growing to the level it is at. Even Friday's fixture tested us in terms of man power.

"We also won't take a viewpoint which is short sighted. We aren't reliant on outside creditors and the club isn't experiencing financial problems. We are still holding our own in the league and the aim is to finish as high as we possibly can.

"The important thing is that we are still in the battle. We should never lose sight of the fact that we are still locking horns with clubs who have some very illustrious history and four figure home attendances.

"Everything we do is carefully staged and it doesn't mean anyone should panic or speculate negatively. Stability in the football world is created through flexibility and that is what we are doing, showing our ability to be flexible."