Hinshelwood prepared for tough start to the season

Worthing host Wingate & Finchley in their opening Bostik League Premier Division game on Saturday (3pm) before they travel to Carshalton on Monday (7.45pm).

Hinshelwood expects the standard to be high in the division this year and said: “Wingate and Carshalton are going to be tough games.

“A lot of teams have improved, so we’ll just look to keep improving on what we’ve done in pre-season and give a good account of ourselves in the first two games.

“It’s going to be a really tough league.

"All of the Sussex teams will be strong, so will Dorking and then there's the ones who have been in and around the play-offs for a while.

"Tonbridge have recruited well and you don't know what the new teams that have come up are going to be like, Carshalton and Lewes, so it's going to be a really tough league.

"We’re under no illusions there but I’m pleased with what we’ve got and I’ve got lots of faith in the squad we’ve put together.”

After a strong finish to last season, Hinshelwood knows expectation levels will be high this year and said: “There will be a lot of expectation with the level of player we’ve got in this squad.

“I know that and with the way we performed last year, the expectation levels are going to go up but we’ve just got to keep on progressing as a club.

“Any improvement on last year will be the first thing we are looking to do. We don’t want to be involved in a relegation scrap and with the recruitment we’ve done this summer, we’ll be working hard to finish as high up the league as we can.”

Tickets for Worthing’s home game with Wingate are £10 for adults, £5 for concessions, £3 for 12 to 16-year-olds, £1 for six to 12 year olds and entry is free for children under-six.

Brighton season ticket holders get half-price entry on production of their Albion season ticket.