Hamilton Accies Women head coach Gary Doctor hopes his squad have learned from their baptism of fire in SWPL 1.
The New Douglas Park club were promoted to the top tier last year but finished the 2021/22 campaign bottom.
Despite placing last out of the 10 competing clubs, they will remain at that level as restructuring commences amid elite women’s football becoming SPFL responsibility next season.
Doctor knows it’s been tough going for his squad at times, especially those who haven’t competed at this level before.
It could prove a good learning curve though, as he explained: “Speaking to a few players, I think they have found it mentally challenging at times. On reflection, we probably didn’t realise how many of them were playing their first season at this level.
“It’s the highest level it’s been across the league, not just one team. I think that has been a challenge so we will now look to give the players a bit of a mental and physical break for a few weeks.
“We’ll be looking at where we will recruit and where we can retain players, just like any other football club at this time of year.
“We want to try and get ourselves better prepared for next season. We think - we hope - that they have learned a lot from this season. That’s especially with the younger ones.
“They may not have played a lot in this league before and it’s important they get a lot of learning out of this. It’s something to take into next season.”
Doctor’s player retention drive is already well underway, with Danni Pagliarulo, Darcy Molley, Lauren Evans, Josephine Giard, Tara McGonigle, Lindsey Blues, Megan Quigley, Chloe Muir, Megan Quinn, Kirstie McIntosh and Hannah Coakley all signing extensions for the new term.
Follow Lanarkshire Live Sport on Twitter via @LanLiveSport, like us on Facebook or find us on Instagram for the latest sports news, pictures and video.
