In the last week, the Hednesford Town first team squad have undertaken their first pre-season training sessions of 2016.
Manager Liam McDonald gave us this update on those members of last season’s squad who have yet to be mentioned.
He said:
“The players that haven’t been mentioned so far aren’t part of my plans at Hednesford Town. I didn’t want to bring players back for pre-season who I didn’t feel would be part of my squad going forward.
“All the players that have agreed to sign are the players I wanted to be part of our journey for this season.
“There have been high profile players who have left the club and Ben Bailey was the only one that I wanted to keep, but I accepted that he needed a new challenge and he went with the club’s blessing.
“The other lads from last season, both when it comes to location and financially, wouldn’t have worked for the club and the squad I’m building.
“Also I wanted the club to be more local and have a more community feel, so players coming from the likes of Liverpool wouldn’t have worked.
“I’m not saying it won’t work in the future, but for this season and for building a squad to compete this season after relegation, I feel this is the right thing to do.”
McDonald’s new look squad have now had a full week to start building a bond that can hopefully guide the club back to step two of the non-league pyramid at the first attempt.
The manager added:
“Pre-season training is going really well. The lads are working hard and there is already that team bond that you require. It is growing with every training session that we have.
“The whole team, and myself, are really looking forward to Saturday now and getting some minutes under their belts in pre-season.”
Chasetown are the visitors to Keys Park this coming Saturday, 9th July, with the first pre-season game kicking off at 3pm.
