DUMBARTON manager Stevie Aitken insists the hard work will start now as he prepares to build his squad for next season.

Following Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Alloa, the Sons squad and fans had the chance to celebrate clinching another season in the SPFL Championship at the Player of the Year awards night.

However, with Sons having secured their league status after the previous week’s win over St Mirren, Aitken admitted he has been afforded little time to enjoy the achievement of once again finishing as the top part-time team in Scotland.

The former Stranraer boss is desperate to avoid the same level of squad turnover at the Rock this summer as he overseen after taking over from Ian Murray last May.

Only six players stayed at the club when Murray departed, including academy graduates Mikey Hopkins and Donald McCallum.

Only goalkeeper Mark Brown is contracted to the club beyond the summer, although his future is uncertain after losing his place to Jamie Ewings.

Scott Taggart, Kevin Cawley, Mikey Hopkins, Jordan Kirkpatrick and Paul Heffernan were released on Tuesday while loan players Calum Waters, Jamie Lindsay, Tom Walsh and Kler Heh have returned return to their parent clubs.

Sons have made offers to other squad members and are awaiting their decision.

Further departures are inevitable but Aitken will start work right away in an attempt to keep the core of his squad together for what he believes could be an even more difficult campaign next season.

He said: “We didn’t have much time after playing Saturday and then Tuesday. Once the season is finished we can reflect on what we have achieved but this will be a very important time for us.

“I’ll be working really hard for next year and we’ll get to start a lot earlier than last year. Hopefully we can get a good number of players tied down.

“I would expect next year to be even more difficult for us, we could be the only part-time team in the league, I expect Livingston to be too strong in the play-offs.

“We’ll have to recruit in the right way but we want to avoid bringing in 15 or 16 players again, we want to keep the nucleus of the squad together.”

The Sons gaffer believes his team’s league finish this campaign vindicates his decision to take the job last season, at a time when it was viewed by many that it would be difficult to match what Ian Murray had achieved at the club.

A consequence of that success is interest from other club in Dumbarton’s top performers.

The likes of Christian Nade and Gregor Buchanan have attracted attention from full-time clubs with their performances for Sons.

While Dumbarton players who have spent most of their careers at full-time clubs may well have their eye on a move after a year at the Rock, Aitken is realistic about his chances of keeping his main assets.

He added: “We had a job to improve Dumbarton from the previous season, it was always going to be difficult because the club had a good year last season and we were bringing in almost an entirely new squad.

“I think most people would say it’s been the hardest Championship there has ever been, so to beat last season’s points total and concede less goals shows signs of improvement. With our success this season it’s natural that some players attract attention.

“If a player moves on to a better club, we’ve done our job. We’ll have to wait and see."