GLASSBOYS boss Gary Hackett is determined to help his side come back stronger following their end-of-season agony.

A 2-1 home defeat to Salford City last Saturday, coupled with wins for both Worthington and Ashton United, meant Stour missed out on a top-five finish this term in disappointing fashion.

However, the Stourbridge manager is already making his plans for next season.

He said: “To get to the second round in the FA Cup, the last 16 of the FA Trophy and a top six finish is a good season, but it's a disappointing end to miss out on the play-offs,” he added.

“The amount of goals we conceded is a lot more than the teams around us and that’s an obvious place to improve.

“We do have a few big decisions to make over the summer about where we go from here, but we certainly don’t have as many as we did last season."

Defender Dan Scarr is the only player currently contracted for next term.

Ben Billingham, Karl Hawley, Sean Geddes and Sam Whittall all have deals that expired at the end of the season.

“We will be sitting down with the players in the next two weeks and discussing their futures. We also already have a few targets in mind.”

Speaking after the defeat by Salford at the Memorial Ground last weekend, Hackett said: "It’s an immense disappointment but we are where we are. We finished sixth for a reason.

“In a lot of respects it has been a great season but when you get that close (and fail) there are a lot of reasons why.

“We spent our first season in the Northern Premier League last season and from Christmas it was a disaster. There is pressure on me as a manager and I promised myself one big season to turn it around, and there is no question we have done that.

“It is still very raw at the moment and not being able to get over the line in front of such a big crowd is disappointing but there is momentum and people can see we are playing the right way. We play attacking football and attractive football.

“We have great people behind the scenes and I’ll learn from the areas where we have fallen short."