PERSHORE Town manager Quentin Townsend will have little time to reflect on the season as he prepares for the next campaign.
The Plums bring an end to a roller-coaster Midland League Division One season with a home game against Heath Hayes on Saturday and then a trip to Studley on Tuesday.
Townsend wants the team to target a winning finale before he plans talks with the club’s chairman Daniel Parvin, officials and players to plan ahead.
“It never stops – the season ends next week but then you have to start thinking straight away about next season,” said Townsend. “I’ve already got a few targets in mind because I know from past experience that if you don’t recruit quickly you will miss out.
“We’ve made changes this year and we want to build on what we’ve got. We will sit down with the players and hopefully they will want to stay. You can see the team has developed and we have to keep improving.”
Townsend has already indicated he would hope to retain young striker Jack Downing for next season by extending his stay from AFC Telford United for the full campaign, but Pershore will have to plan without fellow forward Charlie Ntamark, who has got the opportunity to play professionally in Canada. Ntamark is set to head Toronto next month.
“I’m hoping Jack will be with us for next season. He’s only young but he has come on in leaps and bounds since he has been with us,” said Townsend.
“But Charlie has been offered the chance to go an play in Toronto in the tier below the MLS. We wish him well.
“He has done well for us and going to Toronto is a great opportunity for him.”
After a frustrating 3-1 defeat to lowly Stafford Town, Pershore can finish no higher than their current 14th place in Division One but a queue of three clubs – including Heath Hayes – lie within one point of them.
Alfie Bloomer scored an equaliser for Town at Evans Park to take his goal tally to nine – alongside Ntamark – as the sides were level at half-time, but two goals from Jordan Dodd and one from Tom Duffy settled the contest.
While Townsend believes there has been clear signs of overall progress, there is an element of what if after Pershore dropped points to teams below them. The weekend’s defeat was a fourth game without a win and it will be a lesson learned as Townsend ponders extra options in the summer.
“Last weekend was a familiar tale at Stafford,” said Townsend. “We dominated the first half but it was a different story in the second half. We kept pushing but they caught us on the counter-attack.”
Downing comes back into contention against Heath Hayes, having missed the last two games to help Telford win their Midland Junior Premier League title, while Cameron Mathewson can return after suspension. Oli Manoochehri and Steve Webb are also available, but Dean Waldron and Chris Bright are absent.