Title is the target as Holbeach United prepare for ‘tough’ opener at Daventry Town

Seb Hayes insists that Holbeach United’s fractured pre-season won’t have any effect their Future Lions UCL Premier Division opener at Daventry Town on Saturday (3pm).

The Tigers boss has only seen his side play three friendly fixtures over the summer, meaning they had to hastily arrange a game with Spalding United under-23s on Wednesday night – which they won 2-1.

But, despite losing 7-0 to Peterborough Sports last Saturday, Holbeach chief Hayes is very happy with the state of his squad ahead of the trip to Communications Park.

He’s brought in Josh Ford, Jamie Stevens, Billy Smith, Jonny Clay, Tom Smith and Kieran Hamilton over the summer, but has seen first-team regulars Mitch Griffiths, Joe Smith, George Zuerner and Joe Braithwaite leave Carter’s Park for pastures new.

Hayes admits he’ll be judged by his sweeping changes, but reckons he’s improved the squad enough to have a crack at the title this season.

“We’re ready for Daventry,” said the Tigers boss. “But we have finished pre-season on a sour note.

“However, I am very happy with our summer transfer-wise. I wanted to shake things up and we’ve made a few bold moves.

“Maybe I’ll end up with egg on my face for changing so much, but I felt we were a bit one-dimensional last season.

“I felt like we had no obvious plan B last year, especially when we were behind in games.

“This year, I’d like us to play more football and control games with the ball. We’ve tried that in pre-season and it has worked.

“Obviously, we’ll need to deal with UCL football – long balls and getting the ball forward quickly – too, which is something we did well last year. But I’d like to see more playing out from the back and through the midfield.

“I want to be competitive and in the hunt for the title this year. Last season we managed top four and won a trophy.

“I don’t want to stand still, we have strengthened the squad and I believe we now have the players to have a shot at the title.

“I’ve put myself under pressure by saying that and I’m there to be shot at if things don’t work out.

“But I’m backing myself and the lads to do well this season.

“We’ve got big players with big personalities in the dressing room and it’s my job to make sure we get the best out of them.”

Starting away at Daventry isn’t the easiest fixture Holbeach could have hoped for.

The Northamptonshire side finished tenth last year, but proved a tough nut to crack – especially at home.

Holbeach won 3-1 there towards the end of the campaign and Hayes insists that his side will go there with nothing to fear.

“It’ll be a tough test,” added the Tigers chief. “We won there last year and will have a fair idea of how they’ll play.

“We’ll be looking for a positive result and have nothing to fear. We’ll back ourselves to win – but so will they.”

New signings Stevens and Hamilton and Holbeach’s only absentees for the trip.

Meanwhile, a nightmare spell of six goals in 17 second-half minutes saw Holbeach  hammered 7-0 by Peterborough Sports in a Carter’s Park friendly last Saturday.

An own goal, Avelino Vieira’s hat-trick and strikes from Mark Jones, Lewis Hilliard and Stuart Wall earned Sports a huge win – but Tigers boss Hayes insisted that there were plenty of positives for his side to take.

The Tigers chief was pleased with the first-half showing his side produced, but admitted that he was forced to tinker in the second period.

Hayes is still angry with Wisbech St Mary for pulling out of last week’s friendly, which meant he had to make changes against a much stronger Sports side.

“Our preparation was ruined by last week’s cancellation,” rued the Holbeach boss. “We just had too many players with too few minutes under their belts – so we had to tinker.

“We did very well in the first half against a full-strength Sports side that was packed full of top talent.

“We pushed them in that first half, but they scored just before half-time.

“We made lots of changes in the second half and they really punished us.

“We can’t be conceding six goals in 17 minutes, it shouldn’t happen.

“But it’s not a massive concern in pre-season. This was a necessary evil and ensures we’ll be better prepared for the start of the league.

“(Sports boss) Jimmy Dean came up to me after the game and was very complimentary. He said he could see us being in the top three this season.

“Chris Rawlinson at Spalding said something similar after we played them.

“They don’t have to say that. I’m confident we’ll be fine this season.”