Buoyant boss Chris Rawlinson reckons Spalding United are ready to hit the ground running as they prepare to get their new season under way.
The Tulips make the short trip to Evo-Stik NPL Premier Division side Grantham Town for a Lincs FA Senior Trophy showdown on Friday night (7.45pm) in what is their first competitive outing of the 2017/18 campaign.
The quarter-final clash with the Gingerbreads comes just 48 hours after Spalding’s maiden pre-season friendly fixture at Winterton Rangers on Wednesday night, which they lost 1-0.
Rawlinson adamant both games will prove to be “good workouts” for his new-look squad ahead of the Evo-Stik NPL First Division South’s big kick-off next month.
Although the game at the South Kesteven Sports Stadium is a competitive one, the Spalding chief does admit that it’s still very much a pre-season clash for his squad.
Rawlinson sees Grantham as “obvious favourites” to progress, but insists he’ll be sending his side out to win – having been part of the management side that guided the Tulips to a 1-0 win at Boston United in the same stage of the competition last year.
“I think we’re ready to get going again,” enthused the Spalding supremo. “The lads have worked hard in training and we’re ready for some games now.
“Obviously, we all prefer games and to have two within the space of 48 hours will be a really good exercise of us.
“The Grantham game – albeit a competitive game – is still very much part of our pre-season schedule.
“It’s hard at this stage to say that we’ll be at full strength, as we need to work out what that will be for us.
“But we’ll be sending a team out that we feel has the best chance of winning.
“Last season we went to Boston with what, if we’re honest, wasn’t our strongest side. But we got a 1-0 win that helped boost confidence and springboard the side into the new season.
“We got to the semi-final that year and we’d like to do the same again.
“But we have to concede that Grantham are obvious favourites.
“They had a great season last time out and have recruited well over the summer.
“We want to be playing Evo-Stik Premier Division football like them, so it’ll be a good test for the boys.”
Spalding will travel to Grantham without influential midfielder Nathan Whitehead, who is on holiday.
But everybody else is available, meaning that new signings Gary King, Jack Fixter, Ellis Humble and Danny Durkin could all feature.
Having lost key quartet Nathan Stainfield, Leon Mettam, Bradley Wells and Kern Miller, boss Rawlinson admits that he may yet dip into the transfer market again.
But, for now at least, he’s happy to play the waiting game and see how the Tulips fare in pre-season.
“The aim is to challenge for promotion again,” added Rawlinson. “We’ve got pre-season games against Premier Division sides, so hopefully we’ll see how close we are to being at that level.
“Hopefully we’ll not be a million miles away, but we’ll wait and see how pre-season develops.
“I’m happy with the squad, but we’ll see what happens later in the summer. There’s a chance we could add one or two more if the right deal presents itself.”
After the Grantham game, Spalding’s next pre-season fixture – also away from home – is at ChromaSport UCL Premier Division side Boston Town on July 22 (3pm).
- Spalding’s Evo-Stik NPL First Division South fixtures will be released today, we’ll post them as soon as they are available.
