22-year-old midfielder Steven Hewitt has left Burnley after agreeing to have his contract cancelled by the Championship club.
The youth-team graduate made three senior appearances for his boyhood club, but the most recent of these came in November 2013 and he has failed to find a way into the first-team fold since then.
The same year, Hewitt joined National League side Alfreton Town in the first of two loan spells away from Turf Moor, making 15 appearances for the minnows and scoring once.
In March 2015, he moved to the Conference Premier with Southport, staying until the end of the 2014/15 season and playing seven times as the Merseyside club struggled to 19th.
Dyche sees potential career for Hewitt elsewhere
Speaking with the club's official website, Clarets manager Sean Dyche said that "naturally it's a sad day" for Hewitt, but that he felt the prospect of bringing the player to first-team standard was "a step too far".
However, Dyche was keen to stress that Hewitt had been "a credit to himself and his family", praising his "professionalism" and noting that he believes he has the potential to forge a career "in pastures new".
The official statement concluded with a message of gratitude for his efforts while at the club and best wishes for the future.
Poor Burnley form continues at Middlesbrough
The news comes the morning after a disappointing day's work for Dyche's first team, as Burnley slipped to eight points behind the new Championship leaders Middlesbrough.
The Clarets travelled to Middlesbrough on Tuesday evening hoping to close the gap at the top but put in a disappointing performance and left Teesside empty-handed courtesy of Emilio Nsue's tidy second-half finish.
Dyche watches on as Burnley slip to a second defeat in three games - image via gazettelive.co.uk
Burnley began the season in excellent form as promotion favourites but have slipped down the pecking order in recent weeks, currently occupying fifth place with only two points between themselves and seventh-placed Cardiff City.
Winless in their last six games in the second tier, Burnley will be looking to turn their form around against struggling Charlton Athletic this weekend before a difficult fixture with Hull City, who sit one place and three points above them in the league standings.