Don’t judge us until 2015, says Hayden

Manager Michael Hayden, who took over the reins in the summer of 2013, has built on, rather than rebuilt his squad but he says his outlook remains the same as last year.

“Again I’ll say judge us after Christmas,” said the 26-year-old. “We’ll assess our aims at Christmas, but we don’t want to sit in mid-table.

“We want to build on last season and we want to do well in the cups.”

Hayden has raided Highgate for reinforcements during the close season with skipper Tom Reynolds and Jake Brown moving to Townsend Meadow to supplement a youthful squad which finished the season as one of the Midland Combination’s form teams.

Keeper Macaulay Felgate and proven goalscorer Danny Pitts have also been brought in and Hayden says he is delighted with his summer’s business.

“I’m happy with the squad we’ve got.

“We’ve kept the core of the squad we had from January onwards and added some quality.”

Racers begin their campaign at home to Lichfield City tomorrow (3pm) followed by the visit of Nuneaton Griff on Tuesday evening (7.45pm).

And despite the tricky opening for his side, Hayden does not believe they should be overawed by their opening-day opponents.

“I’m hoping they are saying they’ve got a difficult start.”