Peter Jackson is ready to wield the axe through City’s squad – even if he is no longer manager.

Jackson has drawn up the retained list which will be announced once the final game has gone.

Nearly a dozen players are out of contract in the summer and the interim boss has warned that change is on the way.

He said: “There will be quite a few players leaving the club. In our position it needs change.

“It has to happen because this season has simply not been good enough.

“It doesn’t faze me to make changes. I’ll do what I think’s right for myself or for the next manager who comes in.”

Gareth Evans, Omar Daley and Shane Duff are among those whose deals are up. Tommy Doherty left the club on Wednesday evening after his contract was paid up with a year still to go.

Doherty played 21 games but had been hampered by an ankle injury. City never saw the form which twice earned the former Northern Ireland international a place in the League Two team of the year.

He has not appeared in a squad since Peter Jackson took over and only featured once for the reserves in that time.

Jackson added: “He hasn’t featured since the Cheltenham game in December and he’s one of the high earners at the club. Tommy didn’t feature in my plans moving forward and he was getting a lot of money.

“But I’ve got a lot of time for Doherty as a person. He’s been quite reasonable (over the pay-off) and we’ve parted on good terms.”

Doherty, who never did interviews with the media, told fans on his Twitter site: “Thanks for all your best wishes. I wish the club well.”