1874 NORTHWICH have admitted that they could not match an offer made to full-back Matthew Russell by a higher-ranked club.

He is expected to confirm a return to the Northern Premier League, where he played a single season for Glossop North End before arriving at St Luke’s Barton Stadium last summer, in the coming days.

A replacement has been lined up.

“We knew this was likely so have moved to cover it,” said Wayne Goodison, co-manager at 1874.

“Matty told us at the end of last season that he’d had offers and was going to look at things over the summer.

“He promised he’d speak to us before making a decision, and reported back for pre-season along with everybody else.

“After giving it some thought, he’s decided to move on.”

Russell made 52 starts last season in all competitions, scoring once.

He follows Ryan Mitchell, who has joined City of Liverpool, and Tom Bailey – who completed a move to West Didsbury & Chorlton at the weekend – in leaving a team that finished fifth in the North West Counties League top-flight last season.

Goodison said: “We’ve no issue with how any of those lads have handled their exit.

“They’ve each left for different reasons; Ryan was offered more money, Tom had to make a call on how a change of job affected his availability and Matty has an opportunity to play at the level above.

“Each time they’ve explained their circumstances to us, and that’s how we plan to operate – by being honest and open with every player.

“We expect it to work both ways too.”

1874 have confirmed already that defender Danny Meadowcroft is among their signings this summer after leaving Barnton.

They plan to announce others at the end of the week.

A second friendly of the summer follows on Saturday when they visit Atherton LR, kick off 3pm.