Tonbridge start their Skrill South season against Boreham Wood with manager Tommy Warrilow admitting he is braced for nine difficult months.

Having just survived relegation last season, Angels open up with back-to-back games against teams expected to do well this time around.

Saturday's opener at Longmead is followed by a trip to Eastbourne on Tuesday and Warrilow admits the fixture list has started to take on daunting proportions.

He said: “It’s going to be a long season, probably the most testing we’ve had because the league is so strong this year. We are probably one of the sides other clubs are looking at and thinking ‘we can get three points at Tonbridge’.

“The sides that have come down and the sides that have got promoted are heavily backed, the likes of Whitehawk and Ebbsfleet."

Gary Borrowdale is set to make his Tonbridge debut on Saturday after the former Crystal Palace and QPR defender completed a move to Longmead this week.

The 28-year-old is still building up his fitness but he should partner Gary Elphick, providing the latter has fully recovered from a neck injury.