Liam Craig signs new St Johnstone deal but Simon Lappin among those released

Liam Craig has signed a new St Johnstone contract but fellow midfielder Simon Lappin has been released and striker John Sutton transfer-listed.

Scott Brown, Plamen Krachunov and Michael Doyle have also not been offered new deals.

Craig has signed on for next season with an option for the following year, which will be triggered if he makes a certain amount of appearances. The 29-year-old has played 260 times for Saints across two spells in Perth and scored his 47th goal for the club during Saturday's 2-2 draw with Hearts.

Midfielder Lappin, 33, made 18 starts and nine substitute appearances last season while 21-year-old Brown only featured five times and was loaned to Dumbarton.

Manager Tommy Wright told the club's official website: "Simon and Scott have been great players for me and have contributed a great deal to the club. In Simon's case, while I hope to have a little more money available at my disposal, I still have to look at the size of the squad and free up money from within to help me strengthen.

"Scott showed against Celtic last week what he is capable of but I have had to be honest with him and say that I can't promise the regular football he needs to be playing at this stage of his career."

Defenders Krachunov and Doyle only played two games each after arriving on short-term deals in the second half of the campaign, while Sutton has struggled for game time since signing from Motherwell on a two-year contract last summer.

The 32-year-old's only goal came on the first day of the season against Hearts and he has not started a game in 2016. The Perth club say he is "available for transfer or loan".

Wright said: "John and I had high hopes last summer when he came here but the form of other strikers has really limited his involvement but he has remained a superb professional throughout the campaign."

Under-20 players Neil Martyniuk, Greg Kerr, Jordan Millar and Bradley Sinclair have also been released.