CHEZ Isaac says no-one at Braintree Town can afford to sit around feeling sorry for themselves in the wake of their relegation from the Vanarama National League.

The 24-year-old midfielder was part of the side that lost 2-0 in the final game of the campaign at Aldershot Town on Saturday as the Iron’s fate was sealed to leave them heading down after six seasons in the top flight.

But while relegation may be a bitter pill to swallow, Isaac said the club and its supporters had to pull together now and he felt chairman Lee Harding, the rest of the Iron board and staff at Cressing Road needed to start the rebuilding process with immediate effect.

“I’m really not sure where the club goes from here,” he said.

“But the chairman and the board have to look at it and start recruiting for next season now.

“That’s going to be the key.

“From this point onwards until the first day of pre-season, you need to get togetherness with a squad of players who can get the club back up into the National League.”

Isaac felt the root of Braintree’s relegation could be traced back to even before a ball was kicked in anger last August.

While a final-day reprieve was always going to be unlikely, he admitted that it was a tough sensation to accept once relegation was confirmed and felt the odds had always been stacked against the Iron this year.

Together with Michael Cheek, Joe Maybanks and Simeon Akinola, Isaac was one of just four players who remained at the club after a mass exodus last summer.

The then newly-installed manager, Jamie Day, had to rebuild a squad almost from scratch as well as trying to have a pre-season campaign and Isaac felt that placed Braintree on the back foot from day one.

He said: “For me - being here last year - I always knew it was going to be tough this year.

“There was a total rebuild of the team.

“I’d been at the club three or four years, but I still felt like a new player with all the new boys coming in.

“From the off, it was always going to be tough to stay up.

“I can’t fault either of the managers, though.

“They have done a good job, because we’re not the best resourced club in the league.

“Last year, we did brilliantly with the squad that we had and we’ve had a good squad again this year, but it just hasn’t worked out.

“It’s tough to put your finger on it really.

“If anything could have gone wrong this year then it seems to have gone wrong. Look at the number of players who we’ve had out through injuries or whatever and it’s almost been ridiculous.

“It was always going to be tough but for the players involved, it was horrible out there on the pitch at Aldershot, knowing that we were going down.

“It’s not something that you want to have again and you just have to take whatever positives you can - if there are any - and move on. It’s not something I’ve ever had before and it’s not something I ever want to have to experience again.

“The only thing you can do is learn from it and move on.

“That’s what I’m going to try to do, but it’s not something I feel too great about right now.”