Building a platform: Sunia Vuli stops Cornish Pirates' Sam Heard in his tracks. Photo: Dave Jackson
London Welsh coach Martin Jones has warned Exiles fans to expect a summer of upheaval as the National League One club plot a promotion assault for next season.
With plans to move to a fully professional basis ahead of the next campaign a substantial turnover of playing staff is expected.
And Jones revealed squad members such as Alex Cadwallader would be forced to leave the club due to being unable to make such a commitment.
He said: "There are likely to be a lot of changes in the summer as we switch players onto professional contracts.
"I would like to stress, though, that the likes of Alex are not being cast aside. It is just unfortunate that they cannot commit to our plans."
Better news for the Exiles this week came in the shape of contract extensions for Paul Sampson, Sunia Koto Vuli and Wame Levawaru as Welsh look to lock down their key stars.
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Jones insisted the signings sent out the right message to their league rivals.
He added: "The standard of this league is improving all the time, there is no doubt about that.
"We have struggled over the past couple of years to build any momentum but people are now seeing that we really mean business."
The Exiles will be looking to take their rich end-of-season form into the new campaign, having won their final four games in glittering fashion.
An excellent 31-18 win at Cornish Pirates saw Welsh finish a creditable seventh in National League One.
Jones was beaming after seeing his side triumph thanks to tries from Aaron Liffchak, Paul Sampson, Simon Etheredge and Noah Cato.
He said: "It was probably our best performance on the road this season.
"We went 10-0 down in two minutes and I thought it was going to be one of those games.
"But the team spirit was immense and our leadership really came through.
"Players were buying into the cause and everybody is trying to take this club forward."
Numerous board meetings are planned for the coming weeks at which budgets for next season will be confirmed, allowing Jones to continue his squad overhaul.
But the coach also revealed his position had not yet been finalised.
He added: "Obviously, I want to stay because I feel I have a job to do here, but there are still a few things to iron out.
"I believe there are good times ahead and I hope things will be sorted quickly."
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