Sevenoaks Town boss Micky Collins is hoping his new-look squad can steer clear of injuries this time around.

Oaks were sat nicely in mid-table when last season was declared null and void in Isthmian League South East.

They had started the season brightly - losing just twice in the league by mid-November - but results started to become more incosistent with numbers increasing on the treatment table.

"We ended up with five players having knee operations, including our goalkeeper, which did derail us a bit," said Collins.

"We've strengthened the squad, we lost a few to natural wastage which you expect but we've also managed to bring six or seven in.

"Jason Thompson has come back, he was a midfielder with us previously but he's playing up front now as a target man and he played really well on Saturday."

Other new faces include midfielder Charlie Holmes, former Ashford and Sheppey man Ben Davisson, centre-back Dean Gunner and forward Reece Deakin.

Sevenoaks' FA Cup tie against CB Hounslow United was abandoned on Saturday at half-time with the hosts leading 3-0.

It could have been more such was Sevenoaks' dominance and they'll be hoping to maintain their good form in front of goal when they start their league programme at home to Three Bridges this weekend.

"I expect us to compete better this year," added Collins. "I think the players know that they are good enough to do that now.

"We came back late to pre-season, I kept everyone off longer than most clubs. When we came back, we had to get everyone's fitness up slowly although the players came back in good shape to be fair to them. Pre-season went okay but we played a lot of lower-league teams.

"We were a big sluggish in the first 10 minutes on Saturday but we went ahead and then steamrollered them.

"It will be interesting over the next few weeks as we settle down as a group - you never get an easy game at this level.

"But I fear it will be a stop-start season, I don't see us going through without any interruptions."

First four league games: Sat Sep 19: Three Bridges (h), Sat Sep 26: Whitehawk (a), Sat Oct 3: Burgess Hill (h), Tue Oct 6: Hythe (h).

• Read our club by club Isthmian League guide here

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