SAM Allardyce has explained why the 31-year-old former France international defender, Martin Djetou, left the club late on Friday after being told that he would be playing in the FA Cup tie at Watford.
"His contract had come to an end and we needed to make a decision by the 7th (of January), whether we were going to keep him or not," he said.
"I felt that, because he hadn't played as big a part as I thought he was going to do, it would be better if we released him and used the money somewhere else, towards a player who can produce a bit more for us.
"He's a fantastic guy and a super professional but he needs to go and play football at his age and I didn't see that happening here."
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