Boss Paul Doswell may have fallen at the play-offs for a fourth time, but he insists there is no hoodoo over Sutton United’s end of season knock-out credentials.

United lost in the Ryman Premier play-offs to Staines in 2009 and Kingstonian in 2010, and then in the Skrill South finale to Welling United in 2012 and now Dover Athletic in 2014.

Click here for Tony Dolbear's full match report from the Dover defeat

Doswell has long been an advocate of changing the promotion criteria, stating that the runners-up deserve to be promoted.

However, he remains pragmatic about his lack of success in the play-offs.

“When I was at Eastleigh we went six years being knocked out of the FA Cup at the first round, and with Sutton we’ve been in four of the past six, so I don’t believe in any hoodoo,” he said.

“I can tell you how we’ve lost the play-offs - against Staines we were battered, against Kingstonian we battered them but were hit with two fantastic Bobby Traynor goals, Welling were the better team and we were unlucky with injuries against Dover, so there is no mystery.”