Former England B player Andy Dawling will lead a new coaching set-up as Aylesford Bulls plot an immediate return to London 2 South East.

Chairman Frank Prescott is confident Bulls will bounce back at the first attempt after a difficult season that’s seen them lose all 18 matches, with only two to play.

Coach Richard Garrett will stand down after the final game at Thanet Wanderers next month but is staying on as a coaching mentor.

They’re a club in transition after putting a stop to the old ways of paying overseas players.

Mr Prescott said: “We were never going to survive this season but the fact we’ve survived as a business ticks all the boxes. I still maintain that if you have to pay players to stay in the league, then you don’t belong in it. The whole business plan had to change.”

Bulls plan to recruit locally for next season’s promotion push but intend to make full use of their youth section under the guidance of Dawling.

Mr Prescott said: “I’d be most surprised if we don’t come straight back up again, only this time it will be on our terms. Ideally, we’d like to recruit eight to 10 players but keep the nucleus of the older heads we’ve got.

“I want people thinking that when they reach 17 or 18, if they keep playing well, they’ll get in the first team. In the past that’s not been the case where we’ve been importing seven or eight first-team players."

Bulls are without a game this weekend and return to action at league leaders Maidstone on March 21.