GUISELEY joint manager Russ O'Neill believes the club are still in a much better position than they have been in the past despite narrowly missing out on the playoffs.

Last week, National League clubs voted in favour of the ordinary resolution to decide their season on an unweighted points per game (PPG) basis with the champions going up as usual and the playoffs still going ahead.

National League North side Guiseley were left in ninth, narrowly missing out on the top seven.

This is still a stark contrast to what occurred the previous season where the club were paying off debt and finished only a place above the drop zone.

O'Neill thinks the club have made remarkable strides and had winnable games left.

He said: "I think whatever decision was made it wouldn’t have suited everybody. There was still a quarter of a season left, I think it is difficult to say PPG is fair. We were confident that we could have made the playoffs.

"I think they needed to come up with a way to find a champion and play the playoffs is probably the right thing to do, but it is hard to accept.

"We were four points off (the playoffs) and had seven of the bottom 11 to play. We were in good form, 14 games away from home unbeaten, but it weren’t to be.

"I have been in football for over 20 years and won all sorts in non league, that first season at Guiseley was one of the most pleasing seasons I have ever had.

"If we had been in that position with all the debt going into covid-19, I don’t know where we would have ended up.

"That season put us in great stead to have a good season this time out. In terms of league position, it has been a huge improvement."

Thoughts have quickly turned to next season as the Nethermoor side announced their retention list for the 2020/21 campaign.

Captain Hamza Bencherif and top scorer Kaine Felix join Kennedy Digie, Jamie Spencer, Andrai Jones and Prince Ekpolo in being offered new deals. While, the club have taken up the option to extend youngster Nathan Newall's contract by another year.

Young players Gabriel Johnson, George Cantrill, Reiss McNally, Aram Soleman, Brad Nicholson, Declan Lambton and Will Thornton have also all been given the chance to stay on. Goalkeeper Lloyd Allinson has been released.

O'Neill thinks it is crucial to keep his squad together with the target remaining the same.

He added: "A lot of these lads are value for money players. The club has tried to get offers to these lads to get them committed. We have got a few positive answers back and we are still waiting for some decisions. If we can keep the group together and build on it, that is a real positive.

"In terms of recruitment, it is difficult to know where you will be financially. You don’t want to go out there too early and agree to contracts that we might not be able to adhere to.

"We will try win the thing if we can. We have sold players in this last season so if we can replace them, there is no reason why we can’t be confident."