Neal Ardley will hold crunch talks with his Notts County squad in the coming days after their dream of a return to the Football League ended in heartbreak at Wembley.
The Magpies were beaten 3-1 by Harrogate Town under the arch having paid the price for a dismal first-half performance which saw Simon Weaver's side take a two-goal lead into the break.
Callum Roberts' brilliant free-kick gave Notts hope of a fightback but Jack Diamond crushed all hopes with a third goal as Town won promotion to the Football League for the first time in their history.
Ardley was devastated to miss out on what would have been a fine achievement, but is now braced to plot next season's campaign under the Reedtz brothers at Meadow Lane.
And he will hold talks with his players this week about their futures with several members of the squad out of contract including captain Michael Doyle and midfielder Mitch Rose.
"We've got be stronger next season, bring fresh people in and try to hit the ground running next season," he said.
"The league won't get any easier just because Harrogate and Barrow have left the league.
"We've got to start talking to the players that we have here now.
"We will probably do that on Tuesday and have discussions about their futures."
