Tonbridge Angels will be aiming to bridge the divide between the also-rans and the play-off makers in the National South this season.

An impressive 2022/23 campaign left Jay Saunders’ side sitting ninth in the table, just four points adrift of the top seven, where six teams were left to battle it out for a spot in the National League.

Boss Saunders would love to be in the mix this season and is ready for another big challenge as his men kick off the season at Worthing - a side that took fourth position last time around.

He said: “Worthing are a good side, they had a great season last year.

“ I have played against Adam Hinshelwood’s sides for a number of years and they have always been good, especially at home.

“It will be a good test.

“I love it when a season starts, I don’t mind pre-season, but this is proper football, the tempo of the games are better and we’re ready for it.

“Promotion is the aim but we know it’s a tough league, there’s some big clubs in it.

“Would I take where we finished last year? Yes, it would probably be another exceptional season, but can we bridge that gap to the play-offs?

“It won’t be easy, there are some big clubs in it, but we’ll do all we can.”

Saunders has had to contend with some frustrating injuries during pre-season, with summer recruit Stefan Payne among them, missing from last Saturday’s game against Margate, which the Angels won 1-0.

A header from Tommie Fagg towards the end of the opening half settled it.

Saunders felt there were areas his side could have done better in that last pre-season outing, including their finishing.

He was also disappointed some of his substitutes didn’t make more of an impact.

He said: “I was quite happy with certain aspects of the first half, we dominated possession, we had a lot of the ball but to be honest we didn’t ask enough questions.

“I thought our end product was poor and that was frustrating for me.

“There were other aspects I was pleased with, some of our build-up first half was very good.

“I thought the game died a bit second half and that’s why we made the changes, hoping it would get a reaction, maybe get a spark, I didn’t think we got that.

“You have to give Margate credit second half, they made the game tougher for us.

“It wasn’t the best of games but it’s a win and a clean sheet.”