Three Scots remain in the Great Britain ice hockey squad after head coach Doug Christiansen cut it to 25 players following back-to-back matches against Netherlands last weekend.
Christiansen, who finished the domestic season as bench coach at Dundee Stars, has injury worries and will delay naming his final 23 for the World Championship (Division 1B) in Vilnius from April 20-26 until later in the week.
Britain will face hosts Lithuania plus Croatia, Netherlands, Poland and Romania.
The Scots left are Dundee-born netminder Stephen Murphy and his two Belfast Giants team-mates, Glasgow-born forward Colin Shields and Mark Garside from East Kiklbride.
Dundee-born defenceman Sam McCluskey and forward Matt Haywood (Braehead Clan) have been released but three players with Scottish clubs are still in the mix, defenceman Paul Swindlehurst (Dundee Stars) and Braehead duo Matt Towe, a forward, and netminder Mike Will.
Christiansen said: “We have had a few players out this weekend and we want to give them as much time as possible to heal.
“Having a couple of extra players give us more options going forward.”
The former Edinburgh Capitals coach added: “The four guys released have played great all weekend and them leaving the squad is not down to poor performances.
“They should be very proud of their efforts. The future of GB is bright when I have to release players of this quality from the squad.”
Great Britain squad: Netminders: Ben Bowns (Hull Stingrays), Stephen Murphy (Belfast Giants), Mike Will (Braehead Clan).
Defencemen: Steve Lee and Jonathan Weaver (Nottingham Panthers), Danny Meyers (Sheffield Steelers), Ben O’Connor (Arlan Kokshetau), David Phillips and Kevin Phillips (Belfast Giants), Mark Richardson (Cardiff Devils), Paul Swindlehurst (Dundee Stars).
Forwards: David Clarke, Robert Lachowicz and Robert Farmer (Nottingham Panthers), Ben Davies, Matthew Myers (Cardiff Devils),Matty Davies (Hull Stingrays), Robert Dowd, Jason Hewitt, Phil Hill, Jonathan Phillips (Sheffield Steelers), Mark Garside, Colin Shields (Belfast Giants), Ashley Tait (Coventry Blaze), Matt Towe (Braehead Clan).