Paul Trollope says the decision to part company with four out-of-contract first-team players had to be made to create room for new faces at Bristol Rovers.

Defenders Craig Hinton, Joe Jacobson and Ryan Green – plus midfielder Craig Disley – will not be getting new deals with the Pirates.

The quartet were told the news yesterday and Trollope says the club are now well into the process of trying to bring in others he feels will improve the squad for the next campaign.

"All four players have given us fantastic service – the two Craigs have been with us for five years – and they all played a part in what has happened here over the last two seasons, including our promotion," said Trollope.

"It was a difficult decision but they took it very well and understood the reasons why it had been made.

"Time moves on and we have to move the squad on to make progress next year. These players leaving will open up room to bring in new and different ones. We thank them for the tremendous service they have given the club and wish them all the best."

Disley and Hinton both joined the club in the summer of 2004 and have made 203 and 152 league appearances, respectively.

But Disley featured mainly from the bench over the final third of the campaign while Hinton was nursing problems with both knees.

Full-back Green has been plagued by injury troubles since joining from Hereford in 2006, which limited him to 71 league appearances in three years.

Jacobson, a former Welsh Under-21 international, has also had his contributions this season limited by injuries.

"We are trying to shape things for the future. There were questions asked last season when I let Richard Walker go out on loan, although in the end that looked like a good decision," said Trollope.

"People have to trust us in what we are doing, and although some people might raise an eyebrow, we feel we can improve the squad in certain areas

"We feel we have identified some quality signings at reasonable prices so we are very much looking forward to bringing a few new faces in to make the squad better.

"You have to move quickly if you want to get the better players who are available under the Bosman rule.

"Hopefully, there will be a few agreed by the end of May, and then we can add one or two more through June and into pre-season."

However, Trollope refused to comment on speculation that Bristol City midfielder David Noble – who ended the season on loan at Yeovil – is a target.

Bristol Rovers have also released young midfielder James Fraser, but offered one-year contracts to fellow midfielders Charlie Reece and Charlie Clough.

Trollope confirmed he would again be looking to get some of the younger players out on loan to give them further experience, while he will be talking to Andy Williams and Lewis Haldane about their futures later this week. Williams spent last season on loan at Hereford, Haldane at Oxford United.