Faversham Town’s pre-season schedule begins with a trip to the woods.

Boss Sammy Moore wants his team to gel on and off the pitch and has organised a night out camping on Saturday - with players needing to build their own shelters.

Moore has put together an all-star team to take on the challenge in the Southern Counties East Premier Division but the task now is to get them united.

The Lilywhites boss said: “I was lucky enough to do it at Ipswich when Roy Keane was there. He did something similar and that was an experience!

“We will get the boys into teams doing different activities during the day and then it will be taken into the night time as well. It should be a good day for the club and the lads to get together, let their hair down and to get to know each other as individuals.

“We are quite lucky, most of the lads know each other anyway, either playing with each other or playing against each other. It is going to be good.

“The boys will build their own shelters and then we will have a BBQ and a few beers, a few initiation songs and it is about building relationships with each individual and each player, getting to know what they do outside of football. It is not just about a philosophy on how we want to play.

“We are all in it together this year, we have the talent and quality, it is just about the other side of the game and getting to know people and building those relationships. It is a family club and a family team, and we want them all fighting for each other.”

Training is already under way ahead of a month-long schedule of warm-up games before the season kicks off on July 29.

On Tuesday night the players ended a training session with a get-together at the club where Moore laid out his vision for the season, along with a code of conduct.

He said: “They understand our goals and our targets for the season and how we want to play. If you are a fan of this club and you see the team we have put together it is exciting times.”

Moore is expected to add one more big signing this week ahead of their trip away, with the No.4 shirt set aside for a new central defender.

Connor Essam - a player Moore has played alongside and managed before - has been tipped to be that man, although the Town boss wanted the deal rubber-stamped before revealing his latest target.

“We should have that wrapped up this week,” he said.

“It is 95% done, we just need to get him to the club and get it all officially announced.

“Our squad is ready to go, a lot of competition for places, the boys know that it is a team to start and a squad to finish. To win any league is demanding.

“Everyone is fighting for that shirt and it is great. We look around and there is so much quality in that team, they are all winners, all leaders, seven or eight players who have been captains at other clubs, that is what we want.

“We wanted that experience and the knowhow and so that when we are turning up to places on a Tuesday night without a big crowd, they are the characters who will get us through.

“We have good attacking options, we have goals from midfield, it is exciting and now it’s our job as a management team to gel us together and get an identity of how we want to play.

“We will certainly be ready for when we start the season. We have some tough games in pre-season and that’s what we wanted.”