Matt Hamshaw delivers new-deal verdicts to Rotherham United players

They were summoned to AESSEAL New York Stadium on Tuesday so that the new boss could deliver his verdicts in person.

Some players have been released and some have been offered terms to stay on for next season's League One campaign.

Describing it as “a tough day”, Hamshaw said: “It's never easy to let someone go but it's part and parcel of football. You just have to try to make the best decisions for the club.”

The Millers are set to release their retained list in the next few days when the manager's thinking will become clear.

Players whose present deals are due to expire are Dillon Phillips, Jake Hull, Hamish Douglas, Alex MacDonald, Jack Holmes, Josh Kayode, Andre Green, Ciaran McGuckin, Ben Hatton and Josh Ayres.

The Advertiser understands that a couple of senior players and some younger ones are among those who may be staying on.

“Hopefully I've got the decisions right,” Hamshaw said. “In some instances, I haven't seen the lads play in a Rotherham shirt.”

The manager admitted that the process had cost him some sleep in the build-up to the meetings.

“There are one or two where I kept waking up thinking ‘I could change my mind’,” he said.

Loanees Mallik Wilks, Louie Sibley, Pelly Mpanzu and Dan Gore have left the club. Sheffield Wednesday's Wilks and Luton Town's Mpanzu are about to become free agents while Sibley and Gore have returned to parent clubs Oxford United and Manchester United respectively.