Shaun Perry has expressed his shock over losing the Bristol captaincy – but said he is ready to follow Matt Salter into battle in Sunday's Guinness Premiership clash at Saracens.

The England scrum-half led Bristol for only three matches in club captain Joe El-Abd's long-term absence following a bicep operation.

Salter, who captained the club for four years before stepping down at the end of last season, will skipper the Guinness Premiership side for the "foreseeable" future.

Bristol have also released prop Peter Bracken from the remainder of his contract – and other players may follow him out of the Memorial Stadium following Monday's final Guinness A League match of the season against Leeds at Clifton.

Perry said: "If I am being honest, I am a bit disappointed. I have only been captain for three weeks. I really wanted the captaincy.

"It is one of those things, but Salts is a great captain and a great leader. Salts is the better man for the job if we are both in the same team.

"Hilly has explained that he wants to take the pressure of (being) captain off me. He thinks I get too bogged down with it and there's too much pressure."

Salter and head coach Richard Hill worked in close tandem as Bristol claimed a third-placed finish in the Premiership two years after they were First Division champions in 2004-05.

The blindside flanker has captained Bristol three times this season; in the EDF Energy Cup and European Challenge Cup defeats at Northampton and also in the Anglo-Welsh Cup loss to Scarlets.

But Hill has turned to his trusted lieutenant on a permanent basis after Bristol reached the halfway stage of the season three points adrift of second-from-bottom Newcastle Falcons.

He said: "I have decided to make Matt Salter captain. This will be for the foreseeable future. The team isn't playing particularly well. There's pressure mounting on the club and I would rather have Shaun concentrating on his own game.

"Matt has been used to having that responsibility on his shoulders. He knows what it is like to have the captaincy and all the hassle that goes with it."

Meanwhile, Bracken left the club yesterday. The Irishman had played only a handful of games since joining from Wasps in the summer of 2007. He is now trying to win a contract at Premiership rivals Harlequins, having played for the Middlesex club in a United fixture on Monday.

Hill revealed other players could leave the Memorial Stadium following Monday's final A League match with Leeds.

He said: "Bracks is a lovely man and a very good player but it hasn't really worked out for him here at Bristol. There could be others (leaving) as well.

"A shoulder injury ruined his first season and we've had two other very good props, in Jason Hobson and Darren Crompton, in front of him as well as Wayne Thompson returning from Oxford University.

"We have our last official A team match and after that there will be a number of players who probably won't get any rugby from now until the end of the season.

"It is in their interest to go out on loan, or if they find a suitable home permanently then that would be looked at as well."

Hill has wielded the axe ahead of the Saracens clash by dropping full-back Luke Arscott and wing Lee Robinson. Hooker Mark Regan is sidelined with a calf muscle injury. Full-back Vunga Lilo, fly-half Adrian Jarvis, hooker David Blaney, and No 8 James Phillips return and wing Mat Turner is in the squad after spending Christmas in South Africa.

Bristol's home Premiership clash with Worcester on Sunday, March 29, will kick-off at 12.30pm and be shown live on Sky Sports.

Bristol: Backs – E Barnes, G Beveridge, Nathan Brew, Neil Brew, L Eves, A Jarvis, D Lemi, V Lilo, S Perry, M Turner. Forwards – D Blaney, N Budgett, D Crompton, M Irish, S Linklater, J Phillips, M Salter, R Sidoli, W Thompson, A To'oala, D Ward-Smith, R Winters.