SEAMUS Conneely admits that while it was disappointing to say goodbye to Jordan Clark, it wasn’t a surprise that a Championship club came calling for the winger.

Clark’s four-year association with the Reds, which saw him make 192 appearances, came to an end when his contract expired in June, with Luton snapping him up on a free transfer.

The 26-year-old had long been regarded as one of League One’s best wingers, providing a great source of goals, and assists, during his time in the Red of Stanley after his move from Barnsley in 2016.

Clark turned down the offer of a new deal at the Wham Stadium in a bid to secure a move to the Championship which came via Luton, who secured their second tier status after an excellent end to the campaign under returning boss Nathan Jones.

Conneely was a team-mate of Clark throughout his time at the club, and has extended his own stay in to a seventh season.

The Reds captain will be a key man in the middle of John Coleman’s midfield, one which next season won’t contain Clark on their right-hand side.

“It was disappointing to lose Clicker in the off-season but it wasn’t a surprise,” the 32-year-old said. “I felt he’d improved season on season since he arrived four years ago and was going to be attracting the attention of clubs in the Championship.

“He had a great understanding with Callum (Johnson) on our right-hand side and that’ll be difficult to replace but I know the manager will be working on that.”

Coleman expects to be working with a smaller squad next season, after the loss of eight loan players and several more who were out of contract.

The likes of Dimi Evtimov, Phil Edwards, Erico Sousa and Offrande Zanzala were among those to move on, but the Reds did add to their squad last week.

Central defender Cameron Burgess arrived as a free agent, agreeing a three-year deal after leaving Scunthorpe United, while Ryan Cassidy will add some firepower in attack after signing on a season-long loan deal from Watford.

“There were two new faces this week in training – Cameron Burgess and Ryan Cassidy,” Conneely told the club website.

“Though we’re yet to get the balls out for small sided games, they’ve both worked very hard and look like they’ll fit in well with how the manager likes his players to perform.

“We are all getting used to a new ‘normality’ – but we all can’t wait to be doing something familiar, playing games again in front of our fans.”