CRAY Wanderers manager Ian Jenkins says he feels his side can build upon last season's ninth placed finish in the Isthmian Premier League.

Having finished seven points off the play-offs in the last campaign, the club have gone through a series of changes over the summer with a number of players leaving.

However, Jenkins is confident the players he has bought in are more than adequate replacements.

He said: “We’ve lost a few players, but the players we’ve bought in are good quality.

“The ones we’ve lost have been replaced well.

“We have a pretty strong side with good young players and a few more experienced ones.

“I think we could do quite well.

“We were only seven points away from the play-offs last year, but we were in the hunt all season.

“We had key players injured at key points in time, so with those players back we could go further this season.”

The Wands had a mixed pre-season, losing four out of their 10 matches, but Jenkins is not too concerned by that.

“You can’t read too much into pre-season friendlies,” he said.

“The boys are fit, they’ve been in four days a week working on fitness in training.

“We’re looking forward to getting underway.”

With Carshalton having a large budget this season and Canvey Island bringing back manager Steve Tilson, Jenkins admits the club will not be able to compete with some teams’ spending power.

He said: “We can’t compete financially with some teams in this league, but team spirit and the way we play also matter.

“Carshalton also splashed the cash last year, but we did the double over them, which goes to show money isn’t everything.”

Jenkins also ruled out any transfers in the near future.

He added: “Transfer business has been done for now.

“There could be some more come in in about three or four weeks when clubs in higher leagues decide which players they don’t want to keep any more.

“There could also be players that are looking to move on.”

Cray kick off their campaign away to Leiston on Saturday.

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