DORCHESTER assistant-manager Trevor Senior says the club’s players are “hungry” to play as the Magpies ready themselves for the trip to Banbury United in their Southern League premier opener tomorrow (3pm).

With boss Craig Laird assembling a large squad ahead of the new campaign, Senior admitted some of the players might not have had as much game time as usual prior to visiting the Puritans.

He told Echosport: “It’s basically a completely new squad. Obviously with a big squad you don’t get as much game time as you want but they’re hungry when the season starts.

“We have seen videos of them (Banbury). Craig and Stuart know what they’re about and how they want to play. We’ll set the team up to combat that.”

And Senior feels that the whole squad will have a part to play over the course of the season.

“Everyone wants to be involved, that’s human nature. We’ve got 40 league games and people will play their part during the season, that’s the beauty of having a squad with strength in depth,” he said.

Commenting on the Magpies’ aims for the Banbury game, Senior is aiming to avoid defeat and to keep a clean sheet.

He said: “We’re going there not to get beaten, that’s the main objective. If we can keep a clean sheet that will be pleasing.

Dorchester travel to Oxfordshire without Phil Ormrod (groin) and Tom Blair (knee), while Luke Winsper, is a doubt after the midfielder picked up a side problem against Bideford.