BRIDGWATER Town boss Dave Pearse has urged his beleaguered players to use the difficulties of this season as motivation to bounce back strongly and ensure they “never find themselves in this position again."

The Robins, who rounded off a nightmare campaign with a 2-1 home defeat against Yate Town on Saturday, finished rock bottom having picked up just two wins and been beaten in 36 of their 42 league matches.

Pearse, who joined the club as a player in January and has been in the dugout for the last six matches, said: “It is the worst spell I’ve had in football in terms of results, and it’s difficult to explain how it has gone so wrong.

“We just seem to have gone from bad to worse over the course of the season, but I can’t knock the lads as they have stuck at it.

“It would have been easy for them to walk away but they are still here and they all want to play here next season.

“As much of a negative as this season has been, they have got to try and turn it into a positive and realise that they have been privileged to play at this level against the likes of Hereford, Salisbury and Taunton.

“That should stand them in good stead long term, and I don’t think they will ever find themselves in a similar position to the one we have been in this season.

“They can use this year as a massive motivational factor for next year, as they should be determined to put right what has gone wrong during this season.

“There have been some negative comments about the team this season, so it is up to them to go out next year and prove people wrong.”

Reflecting on Saturday’s defeat, Pearse said: “It was a similar story to recent weeks, in that we didn’t take our chances.

“At 1-1 at half time I said to them that the only way Yate would win the game was through scoring from a set-piece, which is exactly what they did.

“I’d say that of the six games I’ve had here, we should have had 12 points, but our finishing has let us down.”

Town’s cause was not helped on Saturday by the sending off of captain Harry Horton for a reckless two-footed lunge, which will keep the midfielder out of the first five matches of next season.

“It was a stupid challenge, and I’ve got no idea why he did it – it wasn’t that sort of game at all,” Pearse said.

“Having said that, he did apologise afterwards, so he is aware of his mistake.”

Despite the difficulties on the pitch, Pearse insisted he “has enjoyed every minute” of his first taste of management – whether he is to continue in the role next season will be revealed on Thursday.