JON Macken has swung the axe with four first-team men leaving Radcliffe FC this week.

After bringing in a trio of new players at the back end of last week, the manager has made sweeping changes as he looks to stamp his mark on the squad.

The men who have gone out this week are captain Carl Peers, fellow central midfielder Tom Owens, full-back Nathan Quirk and forward Kurt Sherlock.

They left the Neuven Stadium a few days after the arrivals of winger Liam Wood from Glossop, goalkeeper Ashley Frith from FC United and central midfielder Kingsley Williams from Trafford.

It is the first major overhaul by ex-Manchester City striker Macken since he took over the Boro job in September.

He has taken a good look at every member of his squad while settling into his first managerial role.

But after seeing his side lose four out the last five games, and concede seven goals without scoring in the last two, he decided the time was right to show some players the door.

Fourth bottom of Evo-Stik League North, Radcliffe are confident they have too much quality to be relegated, especially as only one team goes down this season.

But they are taking nothing for granted and will be looking to make home advantage count over the Christmas and New Year period.

They begin the sequence of league games at home to Droylsden on Saturday followed by a short trip to Trafford on Boxing Day, and two home games against local rivals Ramsbottom on January 1 and Glossop on January 6.

Borough have big ambitions and are looking to build a squad capable of climbing the divisions.

Chairman Paul Hilton is happy with the job Macken is doing and says supporters can expect more changes in playing personnel soon.

“Jon has taken a good look at the players and decided to let four players from the old regime go,” he said.

“He has given them a chance but he needs to build his own squad and we will do what we can to help him do it. He has done his due diligence on the squad and made his decision. He brought three in last week and there is more to come.”