Corinthian Casuals boss James Bracken insists they will come back stronger and wiser next season.

The Casuals missed out on the Ryman Division One South play-offs by just one point, after they were docked three points by the league for fielding a player while he was suspended.

Despite the disappointment, finishing sixth on 82 points is still a club record, eclipsing last season’s 58 points when finishing 13th.

Rather than considering it a tough act to follow given the heart-breaking points deduction, Bracken is looking ahead to the challenge.

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He said: “We have a squad here that is a top three side.

“Next season, we’ll be stronger, I will be wiser, we’ll be more together and the squad will be settled from the start of pre-season. We’ll be ready to go.”

He added: “This group of players has proven what they can do; we lost once in the last 10 game of the season and won seven on the spin.

“Not only that, we were leading the league in the early part of the season. We had a dip, came back from that and showed character.

“They showed everything you need to see in a team to be successful.”