PAUL BRITTON’S new era at Yate Town gets underway a week today after months of waiting.

The Bluebells’ manager has added more strength to his backroom staff by bringing in John Rendall as first team coach to work alongside new assistant manager John Lester, who was brought into Lodge Road last month.

And Britton admits the club are ‘starting from scratch’ with a depleted squad this summer as they look to build towards the new Evo-Stik Southern League Division One South and West season.

But Britton has asked fans to bear with them and be patient as they develop the team for the future.

That squad will get together at Lodge Road next Thursday for their first get-together since the end of April when they finished a tough season with a seventh defeat out of nine matches when going down at Wimborne Town.

It was an up-and-down campaign under former manager Craig Laird and the players may have been resting their limbs for the last two or so months.

But Britton will quickly find out who has been keeping himself in trim during the close season and who has not ahead of a first friendly of the pre-season at the start of July.

Britton said: “We will see what they are like when the come back. Some of the players will have gone out and done their own thing (training) and some will not. We will assess that when they come together.

“It does not take long to know who has done something while they have been off and who hasn’t.”

But with some familiar faces around Yate Town missing from that new squad, it will be a new-look set-up that Britton takes charge of next week.

He added: “We will have a get-together in the club and get the ball out for a kick around first of all.”

Yet he admits: “We have been left with a depleted footballing squad since Craig (Laird) left and Darren (Edwards) took over as caretaker manager. It is different from where it was a couple of seasons ago so it will be a challenge.

“I just hope that the supporters will give us that bit of time and embrace what we are doing.

“They might be disappointed to lose some familiar names (in the squad) and I am quite unknown to most of them as well but it is a case of we are starting from scratch but we will attempt to build a decent group of players.”

But he added: “It is important to instil belief into the players because they are a new group and it’s about them combining and we want them to have a team ethic.”

And Britton will not be concerned about the results from the six friendlies which have been arranged so far.

“Pre-season is what it says on the tin. It’s all about August 6 when the season starts. It’s performance-based. It is about getting to know the players and finalising the squad to go into the league campaign and understanding their roles and responsibilities.”

The vast majority of Yate’s pre-season friendlies are away from Lodge Road, with the only home match at the moment set to take place on Thursday July 28 against Frome Town but the manager is hoping to arrange another home fixture before the league campaign kicks-off in earnest in August.

Meanwhile, Yate have given the patient fans a boost this summer by freezing their match ticket prices for next season. They will stay the same as 2016/17 with adults paying £8.50 entry and it is £5.50 for concessions. Under-11s are admitted free with a paying adult.