​Puritans all set for opener

​The Suffolk side will be the first competitive opponents for new Puritans boss Simon Hollyhead as he aims to help the club bounce back from relegation from the National League North last season.

And speaking to Puritans Radio after a 2-1 win over MK Dons in their final pre-season friendly, Hollyhead was positive about how things had gone over the summer.

He said: “We’ve got a really competitive squad of 18 players and there have been a lot of positives across pre-season.

"I know it’s easy for people to get their own focus from what they want in pre-season – I’ve been at clubs where we’ve won all five pre-season games then lost the first five games of the season, and I’ve been with clubs where we’ve lost games in pre-season and then when the season starts you see people starting to react.

"So you can’t take a lot from the results because inevitably there are always changes, but the overriding thing for me is the chemistry that’s really starting to form and that’s the most pleasing aspect of where we’re at now.

"We wanted to get the balance right of playing games and actually getting the chance to train and practice things, because when a new group comes together they need time to form and connect and work on distances and things like that.

"It's not as easy to work on those things in an uncontrolled game situation.

"But we’ve got 18 lads who desperately want to play for this club and that's one of the first things you want as a coach and we’re delighted with the lads we’ve got in at the moment.”

After the game with AFC Sudbury, Banbury will then go to St Ives Town a week later.

Meanwhile, Banbury have completed the signing of forward Connor Ferguson, after being on trial with the club during pre-season.

Formerly a youth player with Oxford United, Ferguson most recently played for Kidlington.

After leaving Oxford, the attacker joined Didcot Town where he spent two years before joining Thame United.