Graham Harper has revealed next season will be a true test of his and boss Tommy Williams’ management credentials at Kingstonian.

The pair led Ks to an 11th place finish in the Ryman Premier League in a campaign that saw them in the race for the play-offs until the final weeks of a campaign that ultimately ended in failure.

Harper is accustomed to fighting it out for promotion having lifted the Ryman Premier title with Hampton & Richmond Borough and appeared in the Conference South play-offs finals with the Beavers.

Promotion is what he wants with Ks this time next year, but he admits budgetary constraints are going to make things difficult.

“People say it wasn’t bad for our first season in charge, but I’m not pleased with finishing 11th,” he said.

“I don’t put all my effort and time into a club to fail and this season has been a failure in the sense that we haven’t made the play-offs.

“The players we had were good enough to get into the play-offs. I’m not in this league to make up the numbers and finish mid-table.

He added: “I believe if we had a 25-goal-a-season striker then we would have got in there.

“At so many points in the season we were only a point off the top five, but we were not able to get there.

“We had one of the best defences in the league – so I’m pleased we have kept three of last seasons’s back four.

“And we had one of the best away records in the league, so we do not need major changes, just one or two additions.

“One of the reasons we were brought in is the fact we can find players that provide value for money.

“We have got to show our worth as managers and go find the players the budget allows.”