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Time to battle

13/ 8/2008

ASHTON United manager Danny Johnson believes his side will face a much tougher division this season as the UniBond League season starts on Saturday.

Last season’s Premier Division campaign saw a number of teams battling to avoid the drop with as many as 12 sides separated by a handful of points.

Consequently, the Robins boss is hoping his side can at least emulate their performance of 2007/08.

He said: "I don’t know if it’s going to be as tight down the bottom end, but I do know the teams who have come into the league this year are better than those who went.  I don’t think there’s going to be as many draws as the last season – the top 12 teams are going to make the lesser sides pay.  We have to make sure we’re in the top 12 because I think it’s going to be a league of two divisions this year."

The Robins start their campaign with a home game against North Ferriby United at Hurst Cross on Saturday.

Pre-season was concluded with a 2-1 victory against a Stockport County XI on Monday thanks to goals from Ben Deegan and Ian Fitzpatrick.

Ashton had headed into the game on the back of a weekend away at an RAF camp in Cheshire.

Fun and fitness were the orders of the day as the Robins sought to build team spirit.  Fitness tests, assault courses and raft races were among the activities undertaken as the players were put through their paces.

Johnson said: "I’ve got a friend in the RAF and we thought it’d be fantastic to get them over there a week before the season to do some team building, spend some time in each other’s pockets and find out more about their team-mates.  What it means is they’ve come away with lots of stories about each other and the camaraderie was excellent."