IT'S almost over for another season with just an intriguing clash against Bath City on Saturday to round off a long and hard year.

After the 4-0 defeat at their place we definitely owe Bath one and depending on last night's Dr Martens Premier Division action it could be a very interesting match with possibly their survival resting on getting a good result at St George's Lane.

However, while the players may be busy packing the sun-cream and looking towards a well-deserved break after this weekend's match, the manager's job is far from over.

A busy close season beckons as I try to boost the size and quality of our squad to put us in a position to make further progress and improvements next year.

As it stands I have a rough figure of 14 players pencilled in for my plans after I announce the retained list, but with numbers drastically reduced of late we need to try and boost that to a figure of around 18 players.

That number is the minimum we need to provide the depth and cover required during a 55-60 match season.

It might be hard to keep 18 players happy, but I would rather be in that position than our current one in which we are down to the bare bones.

Like other managers I've got my transfer targets lined up but with the nature of football being as it is, I'm sure the picture will change over the summer.

Money as always is the main yardstick in determining what players you can buy and bring in. But ultimately I'm looking for players that will provide keen competition for places and enable us to rotate a little bit.

During the football chit-chat that goes on between managers after matches you get to hear bits and bobs about budgets and how much so-and-so is reputedly spending. I must admit you can end up feeling a little bit jealous hearing the big sums being bandied about.

I think people might be staggered at the cash being ploughed into some teams at our level.

As team boss, I work to budget guidelines from the chairman, Mike Sorensen, and the board and I'm happy to do that, but I cannot stress enough the importance of boosting our squad numbers.

In the last few years we've had a lot of tired players towards the end of the season who are simply not as effective because we have not been able to rest them.