EDDIE Howe has expressed his thanks to Miles Addison, Mohamed Coulibaly, Darryl Flahavan and Benji Buchel for their respective efforts during their time with Cherries.

Addison, Coulibaly and Buchel were all told this week that they would not be offered fresh terms by Cherries, while Flahavan is leaving to seek first-team opportunities elsewhere.

Howe told the Daily Echo: “It is always a difficult time of year when these decisions have to be made. We are sorry to see players leave and certainly wish them well with the rest of their careers.

“We felt Benji had reached a stage with us where he needed to play and find somewhere to take his career to the next level.

“While he has been with us, he has been a goalkeeper with outstanding potential. He was very good on the training ground and, hopefully, we have improved him.

“Although Miles has been out of the picture for a period of time here, he has always conducted himself well and his standards have remained at a high level.

“Around the other players, and even though he has not been involved, he has been very positive and acted like a true gentleman. That is why we wish him very well for the future.

“Mohamed is unfortunate his time with us has been hampered with injury and we haven’t been able to see as much of him as we would have liked.

“At this stage of his career, we feel the club has moved forward so quickly that, unfortunately, his chances would be limited going forward and have made this decision with that in mind.

“Darryl has expressed a desire to seek first-team football elsewhere and we respect his decision.

"He is the ultimate professional and has been a valued member of our squad behind the scenes. He has helped support the team, he has a good work ethic and his appetite for training has been invaluable.”

Goalkeeper Flahavan joined Cherries from Portsmouth in 2011 and was first choice under former boss Lee Bradbury, making 48 league and cup appearances in his first season at Dean Court.

He featured once in the Championship last season, when Ryan Allsop had been sent off at Leeds, and came off the bench after Lee Camp had seen red during Cherries’ defeat at Derby this season. He also started the League Cup opener at Exeter.

Former Derby man Addison penned a three-year deal with Cherries in the summer of 2012 after impressing during a loan spell at the end of the previous season.

Captain when Howe returned in October 2012, he made his last appearance for the club at Bury the following month and served Rotherham, Scunthorpe and Blackpool on loan.

Buchel, capped eight times by Liechtenstein, signed in August 2012 but did not feature for the first team, while Coulibaly, who joined Cherries from Swiss giants Grasshoppers in July 2013, was restricted by injury to just eight appearances and spent time on loan with Coventry and Port Vale.