Tommy Warrilow has apologised to supporters after Ashford missed out on the Isthmian South East play-offs.

The Nuts & Bolts can finish no higher than their current position of eighth following a run of three defeats.

Last season’s beaten play-off finalists were targeting promotion but have fallen short after a turbulent campaign of squad comings and goings.

They finish the season this Saturday at home to a Ramsgate side who need to win to clinch second place.

Boss Warrilow said: “All I can do is apologise to the supporters for how the season’s ended.

“I don’t want to say it’s petered out because we were still in a good position until Easter.

“It’s the first time we’ve not made the play-offs since I’ve been here and I’m not going to hide behind anything. I can only state a few facts.

“We’ve had two play-off finals, a second place when Covid kicked in and this year we haven’t made the play-offs.

“We’ve gone the furthest we’ve been in the FA Cup in 25 years, which is a little plus, but the main thing was to get out of this league and we haven’t done it.

“Believe you me, I wanted promotion more than anyone.

“But it only gets harder when you’ve had the amount of players come and go we’ve had.

“That’s the main reason why we’ve not had the consistency over the course of the season but we gave it a good go.

“After the season we’ve had, to still be in with a shout of the play-offs with three games to go is nothing to be sniffed at.

“It’s not cause for celebration, or anything like that, but it’s not too bad.

“I know from the outside looking in, people might say we’ve had a bad season, but from the inside looking out, with all the upheaval with players, we’ve kept the season alive.

“Saying that, I know it’s not been good enough and all I can do is apologise to everyone.

“It’s not been through lack of trying but we’ve fallen short. We’ve been through a lot of players and it’s difficult to replace them.

“People come up with theories that something must be wrong but that was never the case. There were never any big rows or anything.

“Some didn’t want to be subs, some wanted regular football, some went for better things and some I got wrong and had to move them on again.

“When you’ve had nine consecutive weeks of seven-day approaches it’s like trying to fill a bucket with a hole in it.

“It’s settled down over the last couple of months, and we were able to get some consistency, but it’s about the overall season and I’ve got no problem taking responsibility and apologising for it.

“It’s been the hardest season I’ve ever had as a manager. It’s tested me.”

Ashford, effectively out of the play-off running after back-to-back defeats over Easter, lost 1-0 at Chichester on Saturday. Kaleem Haitham scored early in the second half.

Warrilow said: “I wanted to win to finish as high as we could but I’ve said for a long time Chichester are a good, well-organised side.

"We haven’t gone there to throw in the towel and to say we did would be disrespectful to Chichester.

“None of my sides would do that. I don’t think we’ve lost three on the spin since I’ve been here.”

Ashford will still have a say in the play-off picture when Ramsgate visit Homelands this weekend.

The long-time leaders are fighting for second place after missing out on the title to Chatham but a defeat could see them finish as low as fourth.

Warrilow said: “It’s our last game of the season and a chance to thank the fans for their support in what’s been a frustrating year for them.

“We’ve still got a say in what happens in the play-offs.”