Rebels will not set their targets too high

The waiting is finally over for football fans as the new season begins with a bang tomorrow (Saturday). And what a start it promises to be as Slough Town FC welcome Burnham for a local derby.

Back from the brink of relegation last season, Derek Sweetman’s Rebels will be looking to pick up 40 points as soon as possible to secure safety this time around before attempting to push on up the league, but the club remain realistic of their targets.

After a summer of rebuilding at Holloway’s Park, first team coach Calvin Maye is confident the Rebels can enjoy a successful season. He said: “We’re positive and looking forward to the season starting.

“If I’m honest we didn’t want a local derby to start with but that’s what we’ve got. With the squad we’ve assembled now I’m sure we can get a result and it should be a good game.”

Danny Jordan and Matthew Platt head a long list of new faces in the Slough squad and Maye believes it is now the strongest Rebels set-up for years.

“This squad is much better than for at least the past two seasons,” he said. “It’s very exciting. To see Jordan and Platt linking up will be good and there is some flair in the team.

“Hopefully, with all the work we put in during pre-season we’ll be in good stead for the season.”

A 21st place finish out of 22 teams is not a statistic Slough will want to remember from last term. However, while promotion would be top of the supporters wishlist, Maye remains grounded about the task in hand.

He reflected: “Anything is an improvement on the last two campaigns. We do not want to be in another relegation scramble.

“We could say that we want to win the league, but being realistic we need to look instead at breaking into the top six.”

It remains to be seen whether Slough can banish the ghosts of previous years, but one thing is for sure - Sweetman believes he is the man to do just that.

“Derek’s itching to get back and couldn’t wait for the season to start,” said Maye.