After four of the five friendlies, joint-boss Courtney Hunter-Belford has reflected on a “difficult but pleasing” pre-season so far.
With less than a fortnight to go until the start of the United Counties Premier South campaign, AFC have just one pre-season fixture remaining – Saturday’s Simon Blyth Memorial Trophy trip to Heather St John’s.
After re-building “more than we wanted” of the playing squad following last season’s title success, Hunter-Belford says he and Joe Conneely have been pleased with the way the new members of the squad have settled in.
He said: “It’s been a real mix of everything (this pre-season). It’s been difficult to build a new squad, we lost more than we thought and it’s tough to recruit the right type of players. We’re fishing in a slightly different market.
“But on the flip side it’s been pleasing to see the new lads come in and hit the ground running. They’ve integrated into the group and the lads from last year have made that easy so it’s testament to them. We try to create an environment where people can enjoy it straight away.
“Their application been fantastic, they’ve been willing to listen and learn, and they’ve worked hard and taken in the information we’ve given.
“Results aren’t important but to win and score builds confidence. It was a good test against Rugby, it felt like a proper league game. It was played at a fast tempo but we didn’t look out of place. But our games in August will be best the learning curve for us.”
Having lost a number of players from the title-winning squad, he says recruitment has been tougher heading into a higher league.
But he’s pleased with the shape of his squad heading into the latter stages of the pre-season campaign, and says more announcements should follow between now and the trip to Eynesbury on 27th July.
“When you get promoted you want to keep the whole squad together. You always know you might lose some, but some came as more of a shock. Players move on for lots of different reasons and we wish them well.
“They were fantastic for us and got us over the line so it’s a shame to lose them, but we’ve got great lads in who want to be here. Lots of the boys have stuck around, and the focus is firmly on them.
“It’s been difficult in terms of recruitment. We’re fighting three or four clubs locally for the same players, and we’ve been outbid on a few.
“We want to get across that this is a good place to be, and we’re in a competitive league this year. We’ve got lots of young lads, lots who are at this level for the first time including me and Joe.”
The promotion also means Hinckley have returned to the FA Cup for this season, with a home tie against Highgate United coming on Saturday 3rd August, as well as playing in the FA Vase again.
“Those draws are always something you look forward to, especially in the FA Cup against a side we have unfinished business with from last year. There’s a bit of a renewed rivalry there, but both sides will have lots of new players from last year.
“The Vase is a tough away game (at FC Stratford), so we’ll watch them and see what they’re about. Now we’ve moved up a level the Vase is a competition we want a good run in. That brings everybody together, it’s the best competition for me and something we can all look forward to together.”
