By Joe Harbert

Ashford United are ready to go according to manager Tommy Warrilow, as his side prepare for this weekend’s Isthmian South East opener.

The Nuts & Bolts begin their campaign with an away trip to Phoenix Sports on Saturday, hoping to put a difficult pre-season behind them.

“I think that pre-season has dragged quite a bit, so we’re just ready to start the season and get ourselves going now,” Warrilow said.

“Our team is practically a new side with the amount of changes we’ve had, but I’m not expecting any ins and outs until the season starts.

“The league we’re in is tougher this year, with the teams joining, stronger too, but we still want to try and get out of it if we can.”

Speaking before the opener at Phoenix, the 55-year-old said he believed the match would be a tricky one to claim all three points from.

“It’s going to be tough. They work hard as a team so it’s not going to be an easy ride, but we can definitely win the game.

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“We’ve got to ensure we train well this week in order to be ready for Saturday, because that’s when we’ll start banging the drum and trying to be more ruthless as well.”

United have seen a host of departures and arrivals during the summer, something Warrilow believes will take his team time to get used to.

He said: “There’s some great players in our side but it’s still early days.

“We’ve got to make sure they all gel together because you can’t have a team of individuals.

“The team that started our friendly on Saturday isn’t necessarily going to be the team that starts against Phoenix, because I haven’t got any nailed-on places in the line-up.

“Some of the boys that came on in the second-half last week did really well, so we’ve got plenty of great options heading into the game.”

He added: “The front four have all looked a handful and they’re all different as well which gives us some really good choices going forward.

“The midfield are all fighting for their shirts too, and that’s making them look up for a battle each time they play.

“But I think there’s still some work to do defensively.

“Apart from our keeper Motty (Sam Mott), I might even go with a completely different back four for the game.”

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