Steve Lovell wants to take Ramsgate to the next level after agreeing to stay on at Southwood.

The former Gillingham manager took charge for the final four games of the season after Matt Longhurst’s exit.

Rams missed out on the Isthmian South East play-offs by a point, finishing sixth, but there’s plenty to build on.

Lovell lost his first two games but finished the season strongly, beating Whitstable 6-1 and Chichester 2-0.

The Welshman held talks with chairman James Lawson and will remain at the helm.

“I’ve spoken to the chairman and agreed to stay and build on what’s here,” said Lovell.

“We missed out on the play-offs by a point and next year our focus is on going that one step further and getting into the top five and hopefully aiming for the top spot.

“It’s nice to be at a club that’s got ambition.

“You can go to a lot of clubs and they’re happy to plod along in the league but James has got a vision of going as high as he can, which is great.

“The first step is getting out of this league, and that’s something we will focus on.

“The club is in a good place, James has done a marvellous job to get it where it is, on the field and off it, with all the work in the community, which is so important.

“It bodes well for the start of next season and I hope to get a squad together that will have a good go.

“I don’t think we need too many players. We’d like to keep the majority of the squad.

"I think we’ve got a good nucleus here and they’re all good lads but you can’t predict by the time you come back to training what kind of squad we’ll have.

“Not because we want them to go, but they’ve got to want to stay, and that’s non-league football.

“Hopefully we can keep the ones we want to keep and work with them.

“We might need one or two experienced players to help the younger ones but I believe if you get yourselves fit and have mobility and can run and be quick, pace kills most teams.”

Lovell will continue to be assisted by son Mark, a former Ramsgate player.

Mark has played under his dad before but it’s the first time they’ve worked together in the dugout.

“It’s great, we’re both enjoying it,” said the Rams boss.

“Mark’s got good knowledge of football, he’s got his coaching badges and he always wanted to get into management at some stage.

“He’s been around me all his life, he knows the way I work and my structures and the way I do things, and he’s got great views on football himself.

“I’ve managed him at three or four clubs, at this kind of level and above, and it’s good to bounce off each other.

“He’ll put his views across in games.

“So far he’s pointed out a few things to me that I hadn’t seen, where I don’t know the players that well yet, and he made a couple of decisions in the Whitstable game.

“I’ve got no problem with that.

“I’d rather that than someone who’s just going to agree with me all the time. I’ve enjoyed working with him.”