Edgar Davids is a massive player and a massive name in the game, says Welling United boss Jamie Day

Head coach Davids failed to keep the Bees in League Two at the end of the season and brings his side to Park View Road in The Skrill Premier.

Barnet arrive in Kent sitting in tenth-place in the table, having collected five wins and four draws from their 12 games.

Welling United are in thirteenth-place in the table, with five wins and three draws from 12 games.

Day is relishing the opportunity to come up against a player who has played for some of the giants in world football.

“What he’s achieved as a player, he’s had a fantastic career and a fantastic player for the time that he’s playing and obviously he’s still playing now,” said former Arsenal midfielder Day.

“It will be nice to meet him and we’re looking forward to it.”

Day added: “I think when you’ve got someone of that stature coming to the ground, then it might bring a few extra people through the gate.  Hopefully it does.  Some people may come to get a glimpse of him.  He’s a massive player and a massive name in the game.  Hopefully there will be a big crowd and a good game to watch.”

The Wings are coming across a club that will be looking to bounce back at the first attempt following relegation out of The Football League along with Aldershot Town.

Day said: “I expect them to be a very good passing team.  A team that at the start of the season will be looking to get straight back up so we need to be at our best if we want to get something from the game.

“We know it’s going to be a really tough game, like most games are in this league.

“There’s probably eight or ten teams that are all looking for the same thing and they’re one of them so they want to get promotion and they’ve got a squad capable of doing that and we need to be at our best if we can get something from this game.”

When asked about his start to life back among the non-league elite, the Welling United boss replied: “I’m pleased with the start we’ve made.  I’m disappointed with Saturday at Macclesfield. I felt the game was there to be won and we didn’t do enough in the second half.

“As we’ve seen at this level, if you don’t perform to the best of your abilities for 90 minutes or 45 minutes, you end up getting beat.

“Other than that we’ve started fairly well.  I’m pleased with the 18 points we’ve got. I feel we could have had a few more points. 

“In the next 12 games we’ll be looking to turn some losses into draws and some draws into wins. That’s our aim over the next 12 games coming up.”

Welling United won the Conference South title last season and Day was asked what the difference is between the two leagues.

He said: “I think the standard’s better and you’ve got better stadiums and better pitches. I think at this level all teams we’ve played against are clinical in both boxes.  If you don’t take your chances when you’re on top you end up paying the price for it and we’ve done that in some games.

“We’ve been on top in some games and ended up losing when we should have won.

“It’s a tough league and it can be punishing and harsh at times and we’ve had experience of that at times and no doubt we’ll have that experience during the season.

“The quality is a little bit better and when it’s needed in key areas the quality is good and teams take advantage of that.”

Visit Welling United’s website: www.wellingunited.com

Welling United  v  Barnet
The Skrill Premier
Saturday 5^th October 2013
Kick Off 3:00pm
at Park View Road, Welling, Kent DA16 1SY