Whitby Town striker Jacob Hazel aiming to push on next season

The Seasiders played their last match at the start of November, winning 2-0 against Ashton United, and with performances beginning to become more consistent, the aim is to push on when they can return.

Hazel, who joined Town last summer from Frickley Athletic, is confident of a memorable campaign and feels that keeping the current squad together will be the key to success.

The 26-year-old striker, a representative of the Saint Kitts & Nevis national side, told the Whitby Gazette: "When I came to the club I felt that we all worked well together from minute one and in terms of the league we were going along steadily even if we did have a couple of heavy losses.

"We had a bit of a hiccup with Chris (Hardy) leaving but that's how it goes in football but we picked ourselves up and the transition into working under Nathan (Haslam) and Bully (Lee Bullock) was simple. On a personal basis I'm delighted to have played every game and got my fair share of goals but given our position of seventh in the table that could have given us a real boost so it's a real shame as we had a formation sorted out and we were able to grind results out."

With the season done with now, the forward revealed his frustration about the lack of action and this is emphasised even more when you consider that the 2019/20 campaign was also cut short.

The striker is hopeful of much more clarity for the future as teams look to return to playing football once again.

"We lost a month at the end of last season and then lads got their hopes up with the return in September so it's now got to the stage where we're all eager to play football," the former Scarborough Athletic man added. "I would have been more than happy to try and carry on this season, even if that meant playing over the summer, but given the recent decision from the National League North to make their season null and void there's no chance of that.

"I'm sure that if you asked the majority of lads at our level they may well say the same, especially those who are in their 30s as they're coming towards the final years of their playing careers. It's a shame really but it looks inevitable that we will be following suit in our league with no promotion to play for.

"It's more than just playing football for most at our level and for some lads they rely on their wages from playing. Some have lost their jobs elsewhere and you've also got to look at the mental health side so some will be struggling on both sides. Lads at our level have lost their routine and I, for one, will never be moaning about getting back from an away trip at 1am again."