Sutton United boss Paul Doswell has thrown in the towel on the Blue Square South play-offs and is instead turning his attentions to next season.

Following Tuesday night’s 4-2 win at Billericay, Doswell said there is no longer any pressure from the threat of relegation, and the club can enjoy the final six weeks of the season.

However, it will be a busy end as Doswell looks to blood some of the players coming through the reserves.

Against Billericay, Doswell gave first team time to Nathan Daly, Ronnel Dennis, Kevant Serbony and Chris Benjamin – who responded with the third goal in Essex.

The boss has also started tying players down for next season, with Tom Lovelock, Sam Rents, Craig Dundas, Marvin Williams and Dean Sinclair all signing contracts – while Serbony and Benjamin has signed development contracts.

Leaving Gander Green Lane are Kevin Scriven, Harry Ottaway and Michael Boateng.

Doswell said: “Billericay is a tough place to go so full credit to the players.

“It was especially pleasing to see the performances of the young guys who have come through the ranks and a lot of credit must go to James Bracken for his coaching of the reserves and U18s.

“We have given up on getting into the play-offs, so it is all about blooding some of the younger players, getting some of the experienced players signed on and looking to develop over the summer.

“What we’ve missed this year is someone to put the ball in the back of the net, and I can assure fans we will be addressing that over the summer with some big names coming in.

"I want to bring in forward thinking players who will make us more attacking.”

Ottaway and Boateng were released after contract negotiations broke down, while Scriven, playing second fiddle to Lovelock, was released to cut the player costs, with Wayne Shaw stepping up to number two.

Doswell said: “With both Harry and Michael, we’ve been trying to sort out negotiations on a new contract since November.

“Unfortunately, we’ve not been able to do that and I lost patience in the end.

“I wish Harry all the best and he’ll probably come back and haunt me but, when you look at his goals scored column, it reads 23 appearances and three goals which, when you’re judged on goals, is not good enough.”

Sutton host Salisbury this weekend, before the visit of Weston-super-Mare on Tuesday night.