Well it's been a mixed bag of results for us over the pre-season so far, but overall Lloyd and myself are pleased with the progress we are making as we approach our first season in the Ryman League. Our first priority of the season was to work on fitness training and we feel that that has been achieved. However there is still a way to go with our organisation on the pitch. We've played a lot of games and not had too many training sessions to work on our organisation but over the next two weeks we have 4 training sessions to work on that so expect to see progress in that area.

We've also been pleased with our performances against tough opposition, where the players have shown that when the chips are down, they can play very well. Our problem has been that our motivation levels haven't been what is required against teams from lower leagues. That was shown on Saturday where we had a very poor first half and paid the price. Equally though it was a valuable lesson to the players that even against weaker sides, if you don't give 100% you will be punished.

Looking at the new players we have bought into the squad over the closed season, the signing of Kane Rice has been a big bonus for us and he has shown how well he can do with some excellent performances. Sinclair has also made progress through the pre-season games after a rusty start and he will be an asset for the coming season. Similarly Errison has struggled early on with his fitness, but he will be 100% for our first game.

As for the players who have stayed with the club from last season, they too have performed well, led by Jimmy Strouts who as done well in pre-season. We've also looked to try out new things and we've seen Jason Barton struggle at left back but perform really well in midfield. We have sadly had to contend with a few injuries, with Lee Sperring putting in good performances only to be hampered by injury. The same goes for Nick Hegley who started pre-season really well, but has suffered from some stiffening of the hamstring which we'll need to look at. Thankfully there is some good news on the goalkeeper front, with Pat Mullin given the all clear from a scan last week which will seem him back in the squad for our trip to Hastings. Of the remainder of the squad, we've seen Mo and Lynden work well together and young Andy Hart will certainly be in the mix for the first team this season. We will however be missing Leroy Huggins for the first game for personal reasons, then we have the added problem of Aaron Lacy's suspension for the month of September.

The last pre-season game against Aveley should give us a good idea of how far we have come. They play at the same level as us and we'll be expecting a good performance on Saturday and hopefully get a result there. However, I always say that you shouldn't read too much into these friendlies, and that comes from personal experience! When I was a player at Gillingham we had one season where we had an excellent pre-season including a great 4-1 win over a full strength West Ham side only to be relegated that season. On the flip side, when I won the championship with Fisher I think we lost all but one of our pre-season games. Lloyd and myself know what we have to work on to get us ready for the first game at Hastings and we'll be using the next 2 weeks to get things right on the pitch. So enjoy the game on Saturday and we also look forward to seeing you all down at Hastings on 19th August.