MANAGER Paul Collicutt believes there are good times ahead for Evesham United as they prepare to kick-off the new campaign.

The Robins visit Fleet Town tomorrow (3pm) for their Southern League Division One South and West opener and travel to Bishops Cleeve, Collicutt’s former side, on Tuesday (7.45pm).

Evesham finished in the lower reaches of the division last season but have added eight new players to the squad, including former Swindon Supermarine striker Ashley Edenborough, ex-Stourbridge midfielder Aaron Drake and former Cirencester midfielder Sean Wood.

Following a nine-game pre-season of mixed results, Collicutt feels his players are ready to make their mark.

He said: “We have had a reasonable pre-season and I am happy with the way we have gone about our business and everything is there for Saturday.

“The one thing that’s encouraging is I can only see the side getting better. I am not setting any targets, all I will say is I am hoping I have got a bunch of lads that are prepared to work hard for me and Evesham and are proud to wear the shirt.

“If they can work as hard as I know they can we will give ourselves a chance.

“We all want to be successful. I have got to look to improve on what happened last season. I am hopeful we have got a squad that will go on to better things but we will wait and see.”

United, however, will be without last season’s top-scorer Lance Smith for the Fleet match as he is on holiday.