DOVER Athletic's 26-year-old midfielder Matt Carruthers insists he has played his last game for the club - despite being under contract for another year.

Carruthers, a target for Conference club Chester City, said: “Due to a change in my personal circumstances I am leaving the area and, regardless of whether the Chester deal goes through, I definitely won’t be playing for Dover next season.”

The possible loss of Carruthers was hardly the sort of news that manager Clive Walker wanted to hear on returning from a Greek holiday this week.

Carruthers, who makes powerful runs down both flanks and is well-known for his goalscoring exploits, stressed: "If I don’t go to Chester then I will be looking for another club, probably in the Midlands.”

However, Dover are determined to hold on to him or receive a fair fee for the player who is under contract at the Hoverspeed Stadium for another year.

Chairman Mick Kemp said: “He won’t be going for peanuts, if he goes at all. There are no deals in the pipeline and he’s still a Dover player.

“Mark Wright (the Chester City manager) phoned me to ask what sort of money we wanted for him, but he hasn’t come back to me.”