DAGENHAM and Redbridge boss John Still believes he can keep up his impressive record of improving with each season, after the team narrowly missed out on a League Two play-off spot with defeat at home to Shrewsbury Town.

The Daggers only needed a draw on the final day of the season to guarantee a coveted top seven place, but a 2-1 defeat ensured they will have to go through it all again next season.

At the final whistle all 11 Dagenham players slumped to the floor, devastated that their hard work over the course of the season had, ultimately, led to nothing.

Still saw it differently, however.

Tipped by many to be relegation candidates, the Daggers’ defied the odds, and could easily have been competing with Rochdale, Bury and Gillingham for a place in League One.

And Still refused to be downcast after the loss, allowing himself to look ahead to what he hopes can be an even more successful campaign next year.

“I’m disappointed to have got beat but I’m so proud of the players, and it’s a credit to the club to have come has far as it has,” he said.

“I know where these players have come from, and with the greatest respect, this is a learning curve for lots of the players. Every season we get better, so roll on next season.”

Dagenham are run on one of the tightest budgets in the division, and have had to rely on unearthing rough diamonds like Paul Benson, Scott Griffiths, Sam Saunders and Magnus Okuonghae to keep pace with the other sides in the league.

Still is unsure whether he can keep the squad together for another assault on promotion next season, but he is confident that he can find the replacements, if the likes of Ben Strevens, Benson and Saunders are snapped up by the growing pool of clubs monitoring their progress.

“It’s a phenomenal achievement, considering the budget we’re working to,” Still added. “It’s a credit to the players’ attention to the work that we give them. It’s incredible, but every year we’ve done it, even if we’ve had to sell some players, and we’ve still got better. We’ll continue to grow.

“I don’t know if I can keep this group of players together. Over the last few years we’ve kept selling players at regular intervals and kept going, so as far as I’m concerned it’s business as usual. We’ll carry on doing what we do and being proud of what we’ve achieved.

“We can only try to keep finding new players. We’re all working very hard and if we keep doing that we’ll keep finding players and keep this club going forward.

“I’m not one affected by pressure. I think if you have the best players you can, prepare them as best you can and they work the best that they can you’ll end up where you deserve to be. And we deserve to be eighth. We’re the eighth best team in this league.”