AVAILABILTY issues lay behind striker Pat Cox’s departure from Winchester City this week.

The powerful forward penned a contract until the end of the season when he joined the club from Farnborough last August.

But, with games coming up thick and fast for the Evo-Stik South West play-off chasers, Cox could not guarantee being a regular part of the all-important run-in which kicks off this week with four games in eight days.

After Saturday’s home test against Yate Town (3pm), the Citizens face rearranged matches at Salisbury on Tuesday (7.45pm) and at AFC Totton on Thursday (7.45pm) before hitting the road to Swindon Supermarine next Saturday (3pm).

“We’ve got lots of games and training sessions in April and, because of his family situation, Pat was unsure of his availability, so we’ve knocked it on the head,” explained director of football Dave Malone.

“We’ve got three games a week now and he couldn’t guarantee doing it due to his personal circumstances.

“I’m not up for players telling us when they can and can’t play. He wasn’t going to be available, so we came to an amicable agreement to cut his contract by a month and that was that.

“Pat’s given 100 per cent effort this season and conducted himself in an exemplary manner. We wish him well for the future.”

Winchester’s player-boss Craig Davis goes back a long way with the frontman but, given Cox’s availability issues, he believes the club have done the right thing - albeit that he is now a striker light.

“It’s the worst time ever, but this was the right thing for all parties – definitely for us,” he said.

“Pat’s done well for us and scored a lot of goals and he’s done well for me over the years, but sometimes you’ve got to stick with your morals.

“We’ve got a big week ahead of us and everyone else is fit. (Defender) Joe Cook is back in training and could feature at the weekend, if not early next week.

“We can change the side round a bit or Simba (Mlambo) can play up front, so we’ve got options.”

Malone, meanwhile, says there could be news next week about possible replacements for himself and chairman Paul Murray who are standing down at the end of the season.

“We’ve been going round in circles, but six people have expressed an interest,” he confirmed.

“There are lots of rumours going round – some true, some not – but we’ll probably know more by next week.

“It’s important we get the right people. Paul and I don’t want to leave the club in the lurch.

“There’s no point putting in all the time and effort we have for it to go down the drain.

“We’ve spoken to one or two people I’d call tyre-kickers (not suitable), but there are still a couple we’ve got a chance of doing something with.”