MARTIN Oxland has stressed the importance of getting off to a good start ahead of tomorrow’s derby date with Weymouth (3pm).

Dorchester enter the 2012/13 campaign on the back of an impressive showing last time out.

The county town side finished second in Southern Counties South but missed out on promotion after a 22-15 play-off defeat at Windsor.

And in order to at least match last season’s achievements, Dorchester’s head coach is targeting a positive start at Monmouth Avenue.

He said: “Pre-season training has gone well with good numbers right the way through.

“A friendly against Devonport Services allowed us to try some other players and different combinations and then a second pre-season fixture against Chard provided us with a good test against a team in a higher division.

“The club has attracted some new players as well as players returning to the club from their studies, which we hope will give us some strength and depth to squad.

“Tomorrow I’m hoping we will be able to draw on some confidence gained from playing in a competitive league last season, which saw us challenging in the top four from Christmas onwards.

“Tomorrow is the start of a long season but it will be important to get off to a positive start if we want to perform at the same level as last season.”