Hull hero Windass shown the door

Dean Windass, the veteran striker who fired Hull into the Premier League last year, has been released by the club.

Windass, 40, scored the winner in 2008 Championship play-off final but he found himself sidelined during his hometown club’s first season in the top flight.

Midfielder Ryan France, one of a handful of players to have played for Hull in all four tiers of English football, has also been released, along with former Sunderland and Leeds striker Michael Bridges and former England under-21 midfielder John Welsh.