Stourport Swifts boss Phil Mullen has backed his new-look squad to hit the ground running as they kick off their Southern Midlands One campaign.
Mullen has welcomed SEVEN new faces over the summer as he hopes to build a competitive squad for the new campaign - but doesn’t believe it will take them time to gel.
The Swifts only survived in the division thanks to the restructuring of the league and Mullen wants no repeat of the disastorous run of form that saw them win just twice in four months.
“We know we must improve this season - we can’t afford to struggle like we did last season,” he said.
“We’ve brought in a lot of new players over the summer with a view to being more competitive and that is what I have to do now.
“We came into the club in November but I took full responsibility for what happened last season.
“There is no doubt that this is my squad now so the onus is on us to improve.
“I don’t think we will have too many problems with them all gelling.
“We had a full pre-season together so the players know how each other works and know the way we all play.
“It certainly won’t be an excuse that I’ll be using.”
Swifts have added goalkeeper Craig Humphries from Malvern and former Hereford youngster Darren Andrews to the squad as they look to end two seasons of struggle in Southern Midlands One.
Mullen may be tempted to dip into the transfer market again but whether he adds or not he believes the club now have the resources to improve on last season’s miserable campaign.
“I am certain that we will do better,” he said. “We’ve worked very hard in pre-season and I have seen some signs that we will be a much more competitive oufit this season.
“I know we finished where we finished last season but there were quite a few games where we weren’t all that far away so it is just a matter of making that little improvement.”
After today’s clash with Dunstable, Mullen’s men face newly-promoted Leamington on Tuesday.
“It can work both ways for them. They are one of the teams to come up so if they get a good start they might think momentum is with them, but I’m just interested in getting early points on the board,” Mullen said.
Meanwhile, the club have announced local company I4 Media as their new shirt sponsors.
The sponsorship comes from former Kidderminster chairman Lionel Newton - and Mullen is delighted.
“It is brilliant and absolutely vital that we get that kind of financial backing into the club. We can’t thank Lionel enough.”
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