NOW we've virtually secured our Division Three safety it's time to start looking ahead -- and that means our plans and hopes for next season.

There's no doubt we've learned a lot this term and I'm convinced it will make us much wiser and stronger by the time we launch our next Nationwide League campaign.

You only have to talk to the players to realise how tough they have found it this season.

Even the fittest of our squad say they can't believe how hard it's been, particularly during March when we had eight league matches to contend with.

But I can see myself during training how much it's taken out of them and you think the best thing for them is a fortnight off. But, of course, you aren't able to do that and we've all just got to get on with it.

They'll have a break for nearly nine weeks during the summer which I think will do them a power of good.

But right from the word go next term, and in pre-season too, they'll realise how important it is to have had your rest, whereas for the first three months this season everything was falling on deaf ears.

That was because it was a new experience. We were going well in the league and the players thought that the euphoria of our Conference season was going to carry on.

But, believe me, they soon had to get back down to the nitty gritty and the basics.

Andy Ducros, for instance, is one who will need a good pre-season, five weeks of solid work and it's probably a long time since he's done that. It can only benefit him.

Looking back over our match against Shrewsbury on Saturday, I think it's fair to say there was a sense of relief around the ground at the end of what was a worthy 3-1 win.

There's nothing unusual about that. It's only what you would expect after going through the kind of run that we'd been experiencing.

But it's all about where we go from here. We have six very difficult games coming up and it's how we cope with them that I'm interested in.

I must say that I thought it was a great atmosphere on Saturday and a good local derby. There's no doubt that we deserved to win.

I felt we could have scored more goals. You always want your players to improve but I think, in view of the run we'd had, you have to be pleased with their performance.

Obviously, they were delighted afterwards because a lot of questions had been asked of the players, and rightly so.

But they know one win is no good and that we need to pick up a few more between now and the end of the season.

Our run-in, though, involves teams who are trying to get into the play-offs.

Chesterfield, who are certain to go up whether as champions or not I don't know, are one, but we also have to play the likes of Hartlepool and Cheltenham who are fighting to get into the play-offs as are Plymouth to a certain extent. Macclesfield, where we go to on Saturday, also have an outside chance.

But, from our point of view, we are looking for more confidence to take into the close season and to give ourselves a boost for next term.

All the things you would have expected to happen after such a precious win on Saturday have happened. There has been a bounce in the players' steps, they worked hard in training yesterday and can't wait to face Macclesfield.