Togetherness is the key ingredient at Tonbridge - because it means everything else follows.

Angels start their third season back in National South with a Kent derby at Ebbsfleet on Saturday.

Manager Steve McKimm’s gone for a slightly different approach in the transfer market, signing experienced players in Doug Loft, Ricky Modeste and Craig Braham-Barrett.

His principles remain the same, though, and it’s important everyone buys into the way Tonbridge do things.

“We’ll carry on doing the same things we’ve always done,” said McKimm.

“It’s hard work, endeavour, desire, sprinkled with a bit of quality.

“That’s how we go about our business, because of our resources, and we try to progress that way.

“A lot of things are said about togetherness in football and you need that to stand a chance.

“It means people buy into what you want to do, so it helps massively.

“Whether it’s tactical or physical, whatever way you want to approach a game, they’ll do it because they’re all in it together. That’s a big part of football at our level.

“You can have all the tactics in the world but if you’ve got 11 individuals it isn’t going to work.

“You need a number of things to get you over the line.

“We’re different to other clubs, we approach things differently.

“We’re our own club and we do what suits us.”

Tonbridge produced a classic backs-to-the-wall performance to win at Ebbsfleet last season.

McKimm expects a tough afternoon against a side expected to challenge for promotion.

He said: “We went there and won last year but we were massively up against it.

“It was a case of battening down the hatches.

“We got a goal and held on for dear life - I’m not ashamed to admit it.

“We deserved our goal and they couldn’t break us down.

“Nothing’s won or lost on the first game but we want a good start and we want to push on from last year if we can.

“If we get a good result on Saturday, great. If not, we dust ourselves down and go again against Bath.

“We’ll take whatever approach we feel gives us the best chance of getting a result.

“We’ve watched Ebbsfleet and no doubt they’ve watched us.

“We’ve got a tough opening six or seven games but you’d rather be in this league than not.

“We’ll get on with it, roll our sleeves up, do the best we can and hopefully pull off some results.

“National South will be tougher than ever. You can see who’s going to be up there, you’ve got Havant, Ebbsfleet, Dorking, Dartford, Hampton.

“There’s five without mentioning clubs like Bath who didn’t set the world alight last year but have made very good signings.

“It’ll be the toughest National South for a few years but we’ve always tried to improve.

“We’re in a period where we want to try and move forward on and off the pitch but you’ve got to be stable to start with.”

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