Canterbury City manager Ada Gower will be looking for his side to carry on in the style in which they finished last season in Saturday’s Southern Counties East League opener at new-boys Crowborough Athletic.

Gower admits he is not expecting a significant improvement on the 12th-place finish that Canterbury achieved last season.

He said: “The trouble this year is that so many teams are throwing money at it, clubs likes Phoenix Sports and Greenwich Borough.

“Although we will be looking to finish as high as possible, realistically the main aim will be to make sure that we don’t get relegated and to perhaps have a run in either the Vase or the FA Cup.”

Goalkeeper Shannon Harris, Kane Hemmings, and Chevain Xavier are three new faces in the side, with Gower hoping to name the same team at Crowborough, which rounded off their pre-season campaign with a 3-1 win over Kent County League side Deal Community Sports last week.

City begin life a their new "home" at Ashford United's Homelands base against Woodstock Sports on Wednesday (7.45pm).

Gower insists he will not blame having to play there for any poor performances.

“The pitch is lovely and I don’t think any of my players will have a problem there.” he said.