PAUL Smith heaped praise on his 'invincibles' this week as champions Bromsgrove Sporting went through their entire Midland League Division One campaign without being beaten.

Superb Sporting completed the final piece of the jigsaw with a compelling 5-0 success over Lichfield City in front of a massive 1,115 Victoria Ground crowd.

Smith told the Advertiser: "It was everything I thought it would be and the icing on the cake of what has been an absolutely brilliant season.

" I have to admit, I've been horrible to work with at times this season, I've been snotty and snarling - but it was all because I knew what this group of players were capable of achieving.

"Against Lichfield, we took quite a while to get going, but once we did, we finished it off in style and never looked in danger. In many ways, it summed up our season.

"To go 38 games and not get beaten, I think it's something that will stand in the record books for a long, long time."

Smith revealed he will sit down with Sporting's board of directors this week to discuss the way forward.

He added: "When I took over at Sporting, the average crowd was 196, but we've now got it up to over 650.

"It's a massive ball that's started to roll and I'm an ambitious manager.

"I don't want to go up to the Midland Premier Division and just consolidate. I want to be challenging for the title.

"The last four or five sides that have got promoted to the Premier Division have struggled and I'm under no illusions of what lies ahead.

"Other teams will love playing against us because it will be in front of a big crowd, so it won't be easy.

"I have identified the areas where I think we need to improve upon, which will mean bringing in new players and that in turn will mean new expense.

"That's why it's important to sit down and talk with the board to make sure they are happy."

Smith revealed he had already made himself unpopular with his players by calling them into pre-season training much earlier than normal.

He confirmed: "I plan to have the players back in on the week commencing June 12 because I want to steal a march on everyone else.

"I told the players about pre-season training on Saturday night while they were still celebrating because I thought I'd get less flack. But they weren't happy and there were a few disgruntled faces.

"For some of them, that will be less than a month's break."

They'll be no putting the feet up for players at the moment as Sporting face Coton Green this Saturday in the Smedley Crook Cup semi-final when Smith has already suggested he will feature some of the club's promising youngsters.

He said: "There are two or three youngsters I would like to have a look at, while at the same time there are a few players who need a break now."