9:04am Thursday 25th June 2009
By Ky Capel
ASSISTANT-MANAGER Ashley Vickers is not concerned by the lack of signings being made at the Jewson Stadium.
The close season period has seen Dorchester capture just one new signing, that of returning striker Matt Groves.
However, with a decent-sized squad already, a host of trialists set to try their luck in pre-season, and an array of free agents still available, Vickers remains positive about bringing in new faces.
He said: “We are still looking for players but we have got a lot of good quality trialists coming down and we’re hoping that they’ll prove their worth.
“Also, in today’s market there’s only a small amount of clubs at our level throwing good money around, so players are going to have roll with the times and start reducing their demands a bit.”
The Magpies return for pre-season training on Tuesday with their first friendly arranged for Saturday, July 18.
And Vickers is keen to get going. He added: “We’re going to get the lads together on Tuesday and crack on with getting the spirit going again. On July 2 we start in earnest and we’ve got lots of fitness test coming up.
“We’ve also got a lot of games to play in pre-season, which we’re all looking forward to.
“There may be a short space of time between a few of them but we’ve got some trialists coming down for pre-season and it will be a chance for them to prove to us that they’re good enough for Dorchester.
“It would be nice to get some positive results in those games but it’s all about fitness really.
“The lads have been really positive about pre-season and I’m sure we’ll hit the ground running, and get them as fit as possible.”
The county town club has witnessed an eventful seven days with Eddie Mitchell stepping down as chairman to take up the same role at AFC Bournemouth.
Mitchell, although passing on his majority shareholding to sons Tom and Josh, will continue to provide financial backing to the Magpies and has assured Vickers of his commitment to the cause.
Vickers said: “Eddie has been straight with Roy O’Brien and I as always, and we appreciated that. He put us in the picture as well as reiterating his commitment to Dorchester, which is great.
“He won’t walk away from the club.”
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