Hollands & Blair’s manager will be looking for more consistency from his side this season as they look to challenge for a top-six spot.

Luke Jessup’s team finished 15th last term and showed what an exciting outfit they can be. He feels they are better prepared after a full pre-season with a fresh-looking squad.

Jessup said: “We are ambitious, we are looking at top six.

“We feel that we have got the team and the players and the setup regarding what the club has given us and that is the aim, there or thereabouts.

“The rumour mills have started as to who has what budget but it is what it is. There are a few teams who are really going to give it a go this season, fair play to them. We will do our best to be up there with them.

“Erith Town last year didn't have loads of money but they ended up having a very successful season and we need to get our boys bedded in asap.

“What I saw against Ashford United (winning 2-1 last Tuesday) was motivational from a coaching perspective. We had a gameplan and we stuck to it but we need to make sure we get some consistency and bang that out every game, not just be an every other game setup.

“We put so much energy into that Ashford United game it might have given us a bit of a hangover against Crawley Down (losing 2-1 on Saturday) although we still had plenty of chances. We are definitely heading in the right direction.

“I am buzzing for the season to start, not just me but the players, people around the club, they are double excited.”

A busy summer has seen Jessup recruit a number of new players, including the likes of winger Gus Barnes, George Monger, Ashley Sains and George Sheminant.

Recent central defensive addition Rian Bray - formerly of Sevenoaks Town - impressed against Ashford as did Chatham Town’s Charlie Weston. Taylor Fisher has joined from Snodland Town.

Ryan Hayes was an eye-catching addition earlier this summer but has already moved on, joining Punjab United after a handful of pre-season appearances for Blair.

Jessup said: “It was a surprise (that he left) but I don’t think what we are looking to do fitted with what he was looking for. Two different styles, I think.

“We knew early on that maybe we had different ideas and we wish him all the best at Punjab.”

Dean Grant remains the focal point in attack but there’s plenty of youth in the squad too, with the likes of Devonte West, Connor Tilley and Elbie-Joe Boichat. Preston Kedwell could be available in the league when he turns 16 in September.

Blair kick-off their season on Saturday at home to Holmesdale.

Jessup’s side ended their pre-season programme on Tuesday night with a game against Tenterden Town, winning 3-1 with teenager Kedwell continuing his impressive pre-season with two goals and Dave Chandler scoring the other.

Last Saturday’s match against Crawley Down Gatwick ended in a 2-1 defeat, with Blair guilty of missing numerous chances.

The Blair boss said: “We have had a fairly good pre-season, mixed results but some of the performances in there were what we were looking for.

“We ran into Herne Bay (losing 7-4 in their pre-season opener), a fairly settled team and then we had a Gillingham XI which was quite a young team who gave us a good high-tempo run-out, which we were looking for.

“We did very well against Ashford and that was more of a measured performance from us and we had a few boys back from holiday, which obviously helps.

“We didn’t get the result we wanted against Crawley but we have created 11-12 good chances, three one on ones so at least we are creating chances.

“We want to really have a go at teams, we want to make sure we test teams as often as we can and we are looking at our setup and the players, we are even scoring goals from set-pieces which was another area we were looking at to score some goals from.

“We are in good shape and all in all it’s been a fairly upbeat pre-season.”