Pitchero Non League

Steve Fallon

.....promotion push as they kick off their campaign at home to Ilford on Saturday.

Rangers are preparing for the start of the new season on the back of a frustrating close season which has seen a distinct lack of new additions to replace a host of departures which included striker Dubi Ogbonna to Wisbech Town and right-back John-Paul Duncliffe, who has moved up a level to the Evo-Stik League Southern Premier Division outfit St Neots Town.

The club has however secured the loan signings of midfielder Ryan Auger and striker Jack Paxman, both 18, from npower League Two side Southend United and will continue down that avenue in an attempt to bolster their ranks, with further arrivals from the Shrimpers a possibility.

Despite the lack of new faces, Fallon, who saw his side finish their pre-season calendar with a disappointing 3-1 home defeat to King`s Lynn Town, revealed he is targeting a title challenge as he looks to drastically improve on the nineteenth place finish of last season.

“Like every club, the target at this stage of the season is to get out of the league,” he said.

“If not by winning it, then by the play-offs, I won’t settle for aiming to finish mid-table.

“At our level you have to look up and we are certainly confident of improving on last season’s finish.

“It has been a pretty hectic pre-season and in reality we are still looking to finalise our squad.

“Losing John-Paul is a big loss because he was an important player but we have to move on now and try and find the right players into the squad to allow us to compete.

“We are in a situation where we will have to wait and see who becomes available and go from there.

“Hopefully we may be able to get a couple more lads on long-term loans from the likes of Southend and possibly Cambridge City.”

A lot like Rangers, Ilford struggled for large parts of last season and only narrowly managed to avoid relegation to finish one place below Soham in twentieth.

Despite this, Fallon refused to rule out the threat of the Foxes, but urged his side to play to their strengths and kick off the campaign in positive fashion.

“Ilford struggled last season but you can’t rule them out of doing well this season,” he added.

“However, saying that, all we can do is concentrate on ourselves and do ourselves justice.

“We need to hit the ground running and start the campaign with a positive start.”

Tags: News | Soham Town Rangers

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