"If the right players became available" - Town boss Millington on Tom Clarke's departure, adding to his squad and Jesse Debrah

Former Huddersfield, Preston and Salford defender Clarke announced he retirement from football on Sunday having been forced to admit defeat in his battle against injury.

"I'll never forget the day he first arrived at the training ground, we kept it quiet that the possibility of signing Tom was in the offing and Mani Dieseruvwe spotted him walking across the pitch," Millington said of the Halifax-born defender.

"I'll never forget Mani's face, it was a mixture of awe and excitement at the thought of having Tom Clarke signing for Halifax Town at the same time that Mani was.

"They'd played together at Salford and Mani knew what a person and what a player Tom was, so he was over the moon to see him sign.

"There was all the fanfare with which he was received by the fans and the wider community, he was a real important signing for us at that time.

"We're delighted to have had him as part of the club. We know it's not been the easiest of times for him and he'd have wished it had gone more smoothly.

"He's certainly been a great presence while he's been here and has definitely had an impact on the people and the players around him while he's been at the club and we will remember him very fondly."

When asked if Clarke's departure would free up some of his wage budget to be spent elsewhere, Millington said: "Possibly yeah. I was aware that it was becoming a challenge for Tom to maintain the levels physically that he needed to maintain, so we'd already started to put plans in place for cover.

"As is the approach here, we brought in exciting young prospects who can grow into becoming Halifax Town first-team players.

"So there isn't any immediate pressure to bring anyone else in defensively, we're well covered there, but it may free up some funds to help attract (players) in other positions if the right players became available."

Millington added: "We want to create more goalscoring opportunities, we want to finish more of the opportunities we create.

"I think the players we've got in the building already are well capable of doing both of those things.

"The one thing that I feel might sharpen us up in both of those areas is an element of competition.

"In terms of chance creation, we've got players coming back to full fitness in the shape of Kane Thomson-Sommers and Flo Hoti, obviously Angelo Cappello's away for a few games but will be back soon enough, so I'd hope our ability to create chances will increase with that increased competition.

"But we'll keep our mind open to the possibility of bringing someone in to add competition in the final third to help us become more clinical."

Former Halifax defender Jesse Debrah remains without a club following his departure from The Shay this summer.

"Nothing concrete at the moment," Millington said on whether there had been any developments over Debrah's future, with The Shaymen having declared their interest in seeing him come back to the club.

"I believe there is some loose interest from the Football League but nothing that's concrete or progressed."

Millington says he doesn't expect there to be any further departures from the squad.

"I hope not, no. I don't see that happening," he said.

"If they were to leave now, they'd be going to National League teams, and I think it would be, for any of this young group of players, a sideways move.

"So no, I don't envisage anyone moving on.

"We might need to get people loan moves to get them minutes but at the moment we don't have a great deal of cover until we've got those injured players back."

The Town boss said recent signings Tom Wilson and Jimiel Chikukwa would both be ready to play in the first-team if needed.

"Both are certainly ready to compete," Millington said.

"Tom's shown what he can do in senior football with two seasons at Belper, he's amassed a good number of appearances.

"Not only is he a very capable defender but he's also contributed with a good number of goals in his time at Belper, so we know he can contribute as and when called upon.

"Jimiel, another Yorkshire lad, has less in terms of senior experience but we have no doubt he could contribute to National League football as and when required.

"In an ideal world we may look to get him some minutes on loan at some point, but he'll be kept around it in the short-term to see if there's any opportunities for him to get minutes here."