The New Saints plan to win title back

The Saints’ run of eight Welsh top-flight titles came to an end as the Football Association of Wales officially brought its top domestic league to an end last month, awarding the crown to Connah’s Quay Nomads on a points-per-game basis.

And boss Ruscoe, who insists his side ‘set the benchmark’ with their relentless success, expects the setback of losing out to the Nomads by four points to make his Park Hall side stronger as they plan a response next season.

Ruscoe says there will be no greater incentive than missing out on the title – and Champions League qualification that comes with it – as the The New Saints seek to snatch back top spot.

“Our form had been very much inconsistent and we’ve got ourselves to blame collectively for having such an inconsistent season,” Ruscoe said.

“But we’re human. We can’t just continue to dominate, win by 25 points, break records, win doubles all the time.

“Like in any league in the world you get spells where somebody else comes.

“We’ve got to lick our wounds and go again. There’s no bigger incentive to get that top spot again next season because that’s what champions do, that’s what the best teams do and we certainly are the best team in the league.”

Ruscoe is undergoing a refresh of the squad at the Oswestry outfit. The club entered this close season period with more than a dozen first-team squad members out of contract.

Eight players have agreed fresh terms but long-serving attacking star Aeron Edwards has left to join Nomads.

The Saints have so far moved to bring in highly-rated forward Louis Robles, who enjoyed an impressive first full season in the Welsh top flight with third-placed Bala Town.

And Ruscoe is eyeing further changes to make his side stronger. He added: “Winning is a habit, winning breeds winners. We’ve consistently set the benchmark for our league.

“We’ve have a lot of time to think about it (coming second), the squad and staff we’ve got, we’ll put things in place to make us stronger.

“It would only galvanise us, give us that thought process, with the players, to know we aren’t invincible, but to go again, win things and put our stamp on the league again.”