Terry Brown has swiftly moved to dampen AFC Wimbledon’s Blue Square Premier expectations by insisting the hard work starts now for his Dons side.

Brown’s men ended the season in emphatic style with a 3-0 win over St Albans City on Saturday - a result which confirmed them as Blue Square South champions in front of a party atmosphere at Kingsmeadow.

But the Dons boss admitted there would have to be plenty of hard graft before they can compete with the likes of Wrexham, Luton Town and Oxford United.

Brown said: “In all honesty the real work will start now and through the summer.

“There is no doubt in my mind that we need to strengthen considerably before the start of the season.

“During the next four to five weeks I will be looking to put together the nucleus of our side for next year.

“It is not essential to have the whole squad in place - but you need the nucleus to get the bonding process underway in pre-season.

“I will be scouring all of the play-offs in every league to get a look at the level of player that may be available.

“But we have a lot that works in our favour.

“We are now in the Conference National and that makes us a much more attractive proposition for players - especially those on the fringe of league football.

“And it is very easy to sell the club when people see the levels of support we get week in, week out.”

Kennedy Adjei, Sam Hatton and Jason Goodliffe grabbed second-half goals as Wimbledon rounded things off with a win.

And Brown admitted it had been a fitting end to the campaign.

He added: “You could not have scripted it any better.

“We were determined to go out with a win, and the first couple of goals were absolute crackers.

“For Jason to pop up with a goal, which I think went in off both his knee, was tremendous.

“The fans really wanted something to cheer, and we gave them that in the second half.”

Brown will now take his place amongst the other Blue Square Premier bosses next season, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Mick Harford and Dean Saunders.

And the Dons boss is eager to have a real crack.

He added: “Until I actually get into the football league I suppose in a way I’m a bit of a nearly man.

“But going into the Blue Square Premier with Wimbledon is a massive milestone for me.

“There are not that many clubs that you could achieve something like this with, and I am very fortunate to be at such a fantastic place.”