New assistant manager John Ramshaw is delighted with the way his new-look Hinckley AFC squad have hit the ground running in pre-season.
The squad are now two sessions in to their pre-season preparations ahead of the first friendly of the campaign against Heather St John’s on Saturday 14th July.
But despite the high intensity and fitness that comes with the early stages of pre-season, Ramshaw said the players were extremely focused – and that gives him great optimism for the season ahead. He said: “The attitude from the boys has been absolutely spot on.
“They’ve worked very hard in two very tough sessions. They’ve applied themselves very well and it gives me a great deal of optimism for the season.”
The former Mansfield Town academy boss is frank about what he wants from the season, saying he hasn’t dropped to step six to finish second.
But if they are to achieve their hopes, a lot will depend on the players himself and manager James Jepson can attract to the club.
Ramshaw hopes more will soon follow the likes of Grant Ryan – the forward signed last week who has played all of his career at a higher level.
“We’ve got 12 or 13 signed now with more to come. We’re bringing in good players, players from higher levels like Grant Ryan.
“So players are coming to the club because they believe in me, they believe in James and they know what we want to achieve.
Having mostly been involved at a higher level, the Midland League First Division is unchartered territory for Ramshaw but he expects a high standard with plenty of good teams.
“It’s a new league to me, but that’s one of the exciting prospects. There are unknown quantities for me but it doesn’t matter what league you’re in – there are always good players. You’ve got to be better than them if you want to win it.
“Hopefully we will be up there at the end of the season.”
And with his vast experience combining with Jepson’s relative youth in management terms, Ramshaw think the duo complement each other well.
“James has got a vast knowledge of players and he’s a good player himself.
“We work very well together.We get on very well. we’re very close and we’re good friends.
“There were, shall we say, some external influences that affected us at Rugby but we still worked well there and we’ll hope to do the same here.”
