Daisy Hill begin their new campaign in the North West Counties League First Division North with their longest trip of the season on the opening day, when they travel to Barrow-in-Furness to face Holker Old Boys on Saturday, writes Ian Templeman.

A newly assembled squad has delivered some promising results and performances during seven pre-season games, and manager Lee Hill says he is happy with the way his side is shaping up.

“The whole of our pre-season schedule has gone really well overall”, said Hill.

“Last season began with a full new squad, but this time round it’s helped having a nucleus of players around from last season.

“I think we have added to the squad really well with the players that have come in.

“We’ve had a few injuries and niggles, but we have managed everyone’s minutes, everyone’s game time has been counted down to the minute and we have shared game time out quite nicely.

“It’s been a good six weeks, the lads have put the work in, and now it’s time to see where they are at.”

Despite the promising build up, Hill is cautious about making predictions for the coming season, and is also wary of the challenge posed by starting the league programme against opponents who have finished in the top seven of the division in the last three seasons.

“Our aim for this season is just to improve on last season”, said the Daisy boss.

“We are looking to make strides in moving the football club forward both on and off the pitch, and if we can improve on last season’s 12th place finish, that will be good progress.

“But we go into the Holker game knowing that they have been a good side over the last few seasons.

“It’s a game where we will be able to see what level we are at, because going away up to Holker on the opening day of the season is one of the hardest tests we could have with a new team.

“They have been a tough side who are physical and work hard, so we know that as a minimum we will have to deal with that.

“I’d expect they will have a fairly settled side too, but with some new players added.

“We’ve had lads who came in last Saturday against Ashton Athletic and did well, and we made a few changes on Monday night against Atherton LR, and other lads came in and took their chance too.

“So, it will be a difficult task to pick a team for Saturday, especially as we expect it will be a tough game, and we need to be sure the lads are up for it.”

The game on Saturday kicks of at 3 pm, and Daisy are back in action just over 48 hours later when they host Maine Road at the Plumb Factory Stadium on Monday night, in the first home league fixture of the season, kick off 7.45 pm.