Goalkeeper coach Dan Connor hopes Forest Green will be “better equipped” when they next return to the Football League after relegation from Sky Bet League Two was confirmed on the final day of the campaign.

Charlie McCann’s second-half strike meant Rovers finished the season with a 1-0 victory at home to Notts County.

In two tumultuous seasons, which includes six managers since June 2022, experienced boss Steve Cotterill has given Forest Green reason to be optimistic for next season in the Vanarama National League.

Connor took the positives from a difficult campaign as the basement club finished with back-to-back victories.

He said: “What we hope is that…we bounce back into this division and are better equipped to come up another level and then hopefully stay there.”

On the 1-0 success, he added: “I think the game plan that we went in with worked really, really well.

“I think in the second half we dominated, but we didn’t do it over the course of the season, but we have the ability to do that.”

Speaking about their first season back in the Football League, Notts County boss Stuart Maynard said: “We know what League Two is all about. We’re going to need the fans behind us. We need to all be in it together and stick together.

“It’s not a league that you can keep winning consistently, but we need to make sure that we’re more consistent in what we do.

“There will be difficult times next season. You look at the Wrexhams, Stockports, Mansfields and they’ve gone through batches of games where they haven’t won a game in five or six games at a time.”

Maynard heaped praise on the club’s fans, adding: “It’s incredible and they’ve got behind the lads once again.

“They stayed behind and clapped the lads off, so we need their support next year. We need them as the 12th man.”