Several senior players have left Oldham Athletic at the end of their contracts.

Captain Peter Clarke and midfielders Jose Baxter and Dan Gardner are the headline names on the Latics’ retained list which was released on Wednesday night.

Skipper Clarke turned 37 in January but was a mainstay in the heart of the defence, making 49 appearances and scoring six goals as Oldham finished 14th in League Two.

Former Everton man Baxter returned to Boundary Park last summer looking to rebuild his career, the 27-year-old having had a spell at Goodison Park with the Toffees Under-23s after a drugs ban.

He made 34 appearances and scored four goals last season.

Gardner is being linked with a move back to Chesterfield that would see him reunited with John Sheridan.

The midfielder made 25 appearances before his season was ended in November by a knee injury.

Sheridan’s son Jay, a 19-year-old defender, is also among those to be released having not made a senior appearance for Latics.

Experienced left back Andy Taylor, 33, also departs having made 19 appearances in his solitary season with the club.

Midfielder Chinedu Uche leaves with his only appearance having come off the bench in the final day 5-2 defeat against Northampton.

Spanish striker Urko Vera completes the list of those released having scored one goal in his eight appearances since arriving in January having previously played in La Liga with Athletic Bilbao before spells in Romania for CFR Cluj and Astra Giurgiu.

Loanees Callum Lang, Daniel Iversen, Alex Iacovitti, Zak Dearnley and Dapo Afolayan have returned to their parent clubs at the end of their spells at Boundary Park.

The club have taken up options on the contracts of forward Johan Branger-Engone, who scored five goals last season, and French midfielder Christopher Missilou, who made 50 appearances in all competitions.

They remain in negotiations with striker Jonathan Benteke, midfielder Mohamed Maouche, winger Gevaro Nepomuceno and goalkeeper Zeus De la Paz.

Giles Coke, George Edmundson, Tom Hamer, Rob Hunt, Chris O’Grady, Harry Robinson, Sonhy Sefil, Jamie Stott, Javid Swaby-Neavin and Mohamad Sylla are all under contract for next season.