Deal Town manager Steve King is closing in on some new additions to his team.

The Hoops returned to training last week with a few trialists out to impress and King is looking to add a couple of faces to the squad before the new campaign begins.

With most of last season’s squad staying on there’s no major overhaul needed, but there are areas where King

feels his side do need to strengthen.

He said: “We have a few players that we are looking at. You can look at players in training sessions, but until you put them into a game situation you are never quite sure.

“It has been a positive start, we had all the boys back in that we have retained, we have had good numbers, around 30 at every session, we are in a good situation to move forward.

“We are close on a couple (of new players) that we are waiting for, we have made offers and those offers remain open at the minute.

“We are hoping to maybe get one or two of those across the line but it has been a fairly difficult market this summer in terms of the finances and with our location. But we are patient and we won’t panic into making signings for the sake of it.

“We make sure that people are going to last the whole season and contribute for 50-60 games.

“We are looking at adding an attacking player, an additional forward.

“We took Lenny Atherton on loan from Folkestone at the end of last season to cover that area.

“We need a body there to replace, then we are looking at full-back areas as well.”

Deal begin their pre-season matches on Tuesday, July 4 at home to Minster while they’ve just added a home game with Dover on Tuesday, July 25 to their schedule.

The list also includes a trip to Margate (Saturday, July 8), a home game against a Gillingham XI on Tuesday, July 11, away to Crowborough on Saturday, July 15, Herne Bay away on Tuesday, July 18 and Faversham Strike Force at the Charles Ground on Saturday, July 22.

King’s looking forward to those games, but knows his players need to put in the hard yards first.

He said: “The boys have come back in with a great attitude.

“We have had a few interesting trialists who have come in and we’re looking forward to looking at them when we get some of the game situations.

“We all look forward to getting back out there and playing but we don’t want to rush it. We need to make sure that we are ready to go when that time comes around.

“As we all know the season is going to come around very quickly - before we know it we’re going to be playing for three points.

“It is an exciting time of the year, but we have to get the processes done and we have to

get all the base work in first.”

The first cup draw of the 2023/24 season has taken place, with Deal drawn at home to pre-season opponents Faversham Strike Force in the First Round of the SCEFL Challenge Cup.

The winners will visit Bearsted in the Second Round.

King said: “It is nice to get a home draw but frustrating we didn’t get a bye because that’s an extra game to play.

“It is at home and adds to that excitement of looking forward to getting going.”