AFTER watching Dorchester Town secure their presence in the Evo-Stik Southern Premier South with a 6-0 thumping of Tiverton, boss Callum Brooks admitted work for next season “starts now”.

Brooks’ men were superb against Tivvy, exhibiting technical and creative football as the Yellows struggled to deal with the Magpies’ passing range, movement and pace.

A fourth victory in nine games during Brooks’ tenure lifted the Magpies four points clear of the final relegation spot with one game remaining.

Six teams can mathematically drop a division on Saturday – Walton Casuals, Gosport Borough, Basingstoke, Wimborne Town, Hendon and Tiverton.

Consequently, Dorchester’s final game at Hartley Wintney is effectively a dead rubber, with Brooks attentions now switching to the 2019/20 campaign.

The former Hamworthy United manager also stated his desire to avoid a repeat of this season’s relegation battle.

He told Echosport: “I’m under no illusions, the work for me starts now so we’re ready and in place for the second of July.

“So for me it’s job done, enjoy it – but I don’t want to be in this position next year going down to the last couple of games.

“It hangs over you, the thought that you could go down. I’d rather be in a more positive part of the table.”

While Brooks cannot yet make signings, he is keen to look inwardly at his current group of players as the inevitable discussions over their futures begin.

He said: “We can’t bring players in until everyone’s season’s done. We’ve got a week to go so we’ll enjoy it.

“I’ve noticed that results have thrown the league wide open so there’ll be a lot of nervous teams.

“We can get the group together (tonight) and be more calm and relaxed.

“Before I look at talking about bringing players in it’s about doing what’s right for the players who have a fairly good win record since I’ve been here.

“I’ve got to do right by them. We’ll have some chats and looks at who we’re going to be retaining, who wants to stay and we’ll deal with that over the coming week.

“Obviously, a few will go. That’s just the nature of the beast – that’ll be the same at all clubs everywhere.

“So we’ll try and do what’s right for the club and what’s right for the players. Then at the end of the season we can look at adding and freshening up where we need to do that.

“My ambition is to be more competitive in the league and at least not be worrying going into the last two games of the season.”

While Dorchester’s goalscorers took the plaudits against Tiverton, Kingsley Latham claimed a clean sheet and Brooks hailed the Magpies’ strength in depth between the sticks.

He said: “Kingsley’s been different class the last two games. It just shows how important it is we’ve had two quality keepers around.

“If Nick (Hutchings) had picked up an injury, and we didn’t have Kingsley, you could be throwing someone with no real experience into games that decide whether you’re in this division or the division below.”