Paul Doswell vows that Sutton United will return stronger than ever next season after their Ryman Premier promotion dreams turned sour on Tuesday night.

Sutton crashed to a 3-0 defeat at Staines Town in their play-off semi-final with barely a wimper.

And Doswell admitted the performance of both sides left him with plenty of foods for thought.

He said: “I have no complaints about the result whatsoever.

“I asked the boys to make the play-offs and they did that, but tonight was a step too far.

“In a funny way the game has made my job easier next year.

“I have bought in a lot of talented individuals but to be honest we have not gelled as a team.

“At Staines we came up against a side that have been together for a while, are comfortable on the ball and that showed.

“In fact you could argue that they were so far ahead of us that if they hadn’t won it would have been an injustice.”

Sutton made a nervy start, and fell behind when Howard Newton finished off a flowing move.

The killer blow came seconds after the restart when Leroy Griffiths struck a deflected goal, before Ali Chaaban rounded things off.

Doswell accepted his side had never really got started.

He added: “The only time we were ever in the game was a good spell after they went 2-0 up.

“If Steve Watts had scored with a header it might have set up a tense finale but it is all ifs and buts.

“But I think we just have to give credit to Staines.

“They have a side that is really packed with pace, and we could not cope with it.”

The Sutton boss admitted he has already started planning for next season, and served notice that there may be very different fare on offer at Gander Green Lane next campaign.

Doswell added: “I think we will have a different outlook next season.

“This year we went with a very physical side and although that got us to the play-offs that was the limit.

“But Staines showed that pace is what hurts teams, and that is what I will be looking to bring in.

“We have a lot to be proud of this season - we made the first round of the FA Cup and things are vastly better than this time last year.

“I genuinely believe we are at the start of something special and I am already excited thinking about next season.”

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