We have a tough start to pre-season with three difficult games against big clubs in Dover, Margate and Gillingham but all three of these games will give us a chance to showcase how far the club has come, says Deal Town coach Steve King

DEAL TOWN head coach Steve King says his players will be doing their best to perform against three higher-league clubs at the start of their pre-season campaign.

The Hoops finished in seventh-place in the Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division table last season.

Derek Hares’ side welcome their Vanarama National League neighbours Dover Athletic to The Charles Sports Ground on Monday night before hosting Bostik Premier Division side Margate on Saturday and Gillingham on Monday 9 July.

“We have been back in training for the last week and a half and have completed five training sessions in the lead up to tomorrow’s game,” said King.

“We are delighted that other than Dean Hill (retired) and Euan Sahadow (University in America), the rest of last season’s squad have agreed to stay with the club and have all been training and working hard so far as we aim to build on last year’s achievements.

“We have also welcomed a number of tralisits and new players to training and you will see some of these appearing in our pre-season games over the coming weeks.

“We obviously have a tough start to pre-season with three difficult games against big clubs in Dover, Margate and Gillingham but all three of these games will give us a chance to showcase how far the club has come both on and off the field to people who may have not visited us for a while.

“We will be doing our best to perform well in the games but our main priority is ensuring we are ready for our first competitive game on 4 August.

“We have a number of players away at different stages during pre-season so we will be working on a number of different things in these games.

“Dean Hill has joined the management team and has settled in really well offering an extra support and ensuring that pre-season has gone well so far.”

Deal Town  v  Dover Athletic
Pre-Season Friendly
Monday 2 July 2018
Kick Off 7:30pm
At The Charles Sports Ground, St Leonards Road, Deal, Kent CT14 9AU