THE hard work starts now for Terras’ boss Jason Matthews as he is set to hold talks with his current squad members, as well as some fresh recruits, in a bid to assemble his side for next season.

The Terras’ league campaign was ended with a 1-0 defeat at Chesham on Saturday, a loss that coincided with falling at the final hurdle in their bid to make the play-offs for the second year running.

But Matthews is keen to look at the positives of Weymouth’s latest campaign, and is hopeful of retaining a large amount of the class of 2015/16.

He told Echosport: “For me, it’s going to be a big thing to keep our young squad together.

“I know a lot of the players are quite sought after and it’s my job to keep them.

“I will be doing my utmost to do that and I will also be looking to bring in two or three quality additions to the squad that Sillsy (Tim Sills, assistant-manager) and I have identified. I also hope that Sillsy will carry on and be my assistant.

“This week will give me a tell on which players are desperate to stay and which ones will weigh their options up.

“I will look forward to speaking to each and every one of them because they are a good group of lads. They need to be honest with me and see what they want to do but, on the whole, I don’t want to release anyone really

“In the last five or six weeks we have been excellent and it has been a pleasure to manage that group of lads.”

Reacting to another seventh-place finish and coming so close to the top five once more, the Weymouth chief added: “It’s obviously very frustrating but, on the whole, I feel a lot more positive than I did last year.

“Two or three people that I signed probably let me down a little bit last year. This year we have gone very close and we have built a good young team.”

On his own future as manager, the Matthews said: “Five out of six of the board wanted me to stay and that’s good enough for me.

“The club is in a miles better position than what it was in two years ago.

Dorset Echo

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