WOOTTON Bassett head coach Alan Low has targeted promotion next season after seeing his club take another big stride forward this campaign.

This season may not be over yet, and with one game remaining, finishing second in Southern Counties North is not out of the question, but Low is already looking forward to next year.

Having gone 12 games unbeaten - a run that began back in November - Bassett looked like they could push for promotion this year but two defeats in their last two games has appeared to have scuppered those plans.

Low has admitted that promotion this season may have come too soon but is hoping to end the season on a high as they travel to Bicester on Saturday.

“We need a bonus-point win and they need to lose, so it is not mathematically out of the question, but it is one of those things where your destiny is out of your hands,” said Low when asked about promotion.

“If you go out and finish first and you beat everybody, you don’t have to worry about any of that and that will be our target next year.

“The guys have had some time off and it is a case of getting the right mindset to face Bicester.

“Bicester have had some really good results at home and we said to the squad the other week that their mindset has to be different now.

“I don’t want to finish the season flat. We have had such a good season and I want to end the season bouncing and lead into a really strong pre-season.

“Next year is the year we say 'we are going for promotion'. This year we said it would be top four and we had a sniff of promotion but honestly, we probably should have done a bit better.

“The games we have lost this year haven’t been against the teams at the top. The games we have lost have been silly games against teams lower down when we have not turned up with the right attitude on the day.”