CHAIRMAN Chris Pugsley believes the Terras’ squad manager Jason Matthews has assembled this season is “considerably stronger” than it was last term.

The Terras have added the likes of experienced heads in the form of central-defender Pat Baldwin and midfielder Mark Molesley, who is expected to make his first appearance for the club in today’s 125th anniversary tournament.

“We have definitely got the experience this year,” Pugsley told Echosport.

“We thought last season that when the going got tougher there weren’t enough leaders on the pitch.

“This year we have the likes of Pat Baldwin, Mark Molesley along with Stewart Yetton, Jason Matthews and Chris McPhee.

“They will kick us on and bring the other boys into the game. I think we are considerably stronger than we were last season.

“The experience is in the team and the only thing we are probably lacking are a few legs going forward, we desperately need to get Chris Shephard fit and hopefully that might not be as long as we first feared.”

Looking at today’s event at the Bob Lucas Stadium (from 11am), with an AFC Bournemouth XI a Torquay United XI and AFC Totton set to come to town, Pugsley sees the tournament as the perfect opportunity to build a rapport with other clubs.

“I hope a lot of people come down, get involved with the atmosphere, enjoy the football and see some faces for the future, especially with the like of Bournemouth and Torquay,” he added.

“We have good links with Torquay now and hopefully we can strengthen our link with Bournemouth because we can offer them something for their younger players.

“Jason plays proper football and we can offer them that.”