DESPITE his team's Vanarama National League relegation being confirmed last weekend, Braintree Town manager Danny Searle is certainly not calling time on the Iron's season.

Searle's side produced a rousing performance to beat Gateshead 2-0 last weekend as they moved off the foot of the table, but results elsewhere ensured that it became mathematically impossible for them to now escape the drop zone.

However, they head to promotion-chasing Wrexham on Saturday knowing they still have a big part to play in how the final standings will look.

As well as Saturday's opponents, Braintree have the likes of high-fliers AFC Fylde and leaders Leyton Orient to face and as well as knowing they owe a strong finish to their own fans, Searle said it was good to have games coming up with so much resting on their outcome.

He said: "Is the season over? Absolutely not.

"I have always maintained that we wanted to finish the season as high as we possibly could and nothing has changed that. "There are milestones we want to pass for ourselves, but for the integrity of the league, we have an obligation to want to win every game because what we do affects what is happening at the top and bottom.

"For a club in the situation that we are, we can have a say in who goes up automatically and via the play-offs and also who finishes in and around us. "The squad has to buy into that and if they are not up for it then they will have to move on.

"I'm a winner and I want to win in the right way, playing a style of football that the fans enjoy.

"I felt we did that on Saturday (against Gateshead) and we have to keep doing it. "We want to build a rapport with fans using good local young players alongside the good players we have at the club and that's our mantra until the end of the season."

Searle admitted that the relegation confirmation made the win against Gateshead a "bittersweet" experience but felt it was a performance that showed a growing maturity in his group of young players.

And a couple of the youngest members of his squad made were the latest to make memorable debuts for the club, with 18-year-old Alfie Cerulli making an especially big impact as he scored the Iron's second goal just eight minutes after coming on.

Searle added: "It is the environment that we are creating, so that if someone has confidence in you and makes you feel involved then that takes away some of the fear element. "I'm not saying it wasn't a nervous experience for them but putting faith in young players like we have does give them a freedom.

"Alfie did really well and in truth, he could have got a hat-trick.

"He missed an opportunity just before he scored and other lads may have lost confidence from that but he showed resolve and got his goal.

"That's exactly what you want to see and it's so nice because we are giving these boys a platform.

"And as well as Alfie, there was also Kieran Smith coming on as another 16-year-old making his debut and he had a couple of really lovely touches.

"I believe that players are a product of their environment and we are trying to create a really positive environment.

"It's important that the young players buy into that and want to learn and it's very pleasing to see that they are.

"But I'm more pleased for them because I can see that they are capable of really good things.

"It's something that we should all be proud of in what has been a difficult season."