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Bromley boss Neil Smith says reaching the play-offs is their minimum target this season.
Smith’s men started their National League season with a 4-1 win over Dover at Hayes Lane on Tuesday night.
They showed their quality in front of goal with two close-range Michael Cheek finishes and a well-taken strike by Ben Williamson among their tally.
“It always has been the aim to get into the top seven,” said Smith.
“I was really disappointed with the way we finished last season, with the games we had left I thought we could have given it a go to get in and around those play-offs. To start so well and then tail off was a disappointment.
“I want to be in the play-offs, minimum. I want to be up there. It’s going to be difficult, we know that, there’s a lot of fantastic sides and teams who have added to their squad but I’ll just worry about us and get to where I think we deserve to be.”
Bromley led the table alongside Barrow for much of last season before fading badly – and Smith had gone for experience in the transfer market this summer.
That saw him bring in the likes of Liam Trotter and Byron Webster, who boast around 600 league appearances between them.
With so many games in the next couple of months, Smith believes there will be plenty of surprise results – and he’ll need those calm heads around his team.
“I had good players already here so it was to add a bit of experience that I thought we needed and to add something a little bit different,” he said.
“Trotter is here to organise, he has been there and done it at the top level, and we’ve got Webster behind him.
“This season is going to be up and down – there won’t be any consistency until Christmas.
“There are so many games in such a short space of time, it is going to affect everybody. I’m happy with my squad but we’re still looking to add one or two.”
It was Bromley’s first competitive action for more than six months on Tuesday night – and Smith was just pleased to be back at work.
“It’s been a long time,” he reflected. “It’s football at the end of the day and there’s a lot of people worse off than we are with the situation.
“But as a football manager all you are thinking about is how I can prepare the team and prepare the squad.
“It’s gone on and on and we’ve had little knockbacks along the way so it has been difficult.”
