By Joe Harbert

Ashford United boss Tommy Warrilow has hailed the club's summer transfer dealings, insisting they now have a 'fantastic squad' heading into the new campaign.

The Nuts & Bolts have been forced to replace many first-team stars during recent months, with Jay May and Mo Kamara the latest to leave for pastures new during the course of September.

The likes of Jake McIntyre, David Smith and Lee Prescott have also departed Homelands since March, meaning the club have once again been left to recover a summer exodus of their squad.

However, United have moved quickly to replace many of last season's starting XI, with forward Johan Ter Horst and defender Jack Steventon joining striker Adrian Stone in committing their future to the club moving forward, following their arrivals from Folkestone and Hastings respectively in the last week.

And when asked whether he was pleased with how his new-look squad is shaping up ahead of this weekend's league opener against Phoenix Sports, Warrilow replied: "We’ve assembled a fantastic squad that can beat absolutely anyone on its day, regardless of whether we’re underdogs.

“Everyone panics and worries about who you’re losing but that’s always going to happen - what I’m very happy with is the new faces we’ve added, especially considering every team will have a much smaller squad this time around.

“We’ve still taken a bit of a kicking over the summer by losing all three of our strikers in George Purcell, David Smith and Jay May last week to Romford, so we pursued the opportunity that came up with Johan, and thankfully he’s come aboard, worked his socks off and is enjoying it with us.

“Goals will come for him and if he can get into the form that we know he’s capable of, then we’ve got a fantastic player on our hands who the fans will love.

“We’ve also brought in Jack Steventon from Hastings who can play in various positions, and other players will obviously become available too, but as I’ve said before the most important thing was keeping the nucleus of the squad.

“This season will be really hard if we get a few injuries and suspensions, so whilst we’re still aiming for the top, we’ll do what we always do and wait until January to see where we are so we don’t get carried away, but of course it helps if you start brilliantly.

“A lot of our income is through functions like our weddings, which obviously have been annihilated during the last few months, so it’s still important to remember that the club is still here and running properly.

“Of course, we’re always on the lookout to strengthen and to keep the boys on their toes, but I don’t just do that for the sake of it."

Despite their assault on Isthmian South East not beginning until the weekend when they host Phoenix on Saturday, United have already made their intentions clear to the rest of the division.

The club began their 2020-21 season with an impressive 2-0 victory against title-rivals Whitehawk in the FA Cup Preliminary Round at the weekend - a result Warrilow believes was virtually faultless.

“I was very pleased with the result on Saturday and the performance was excellent, especially against a team in Whitehawk who are always a good side," the 56-year-old explained.

“They’re always strong and organised, so I was really happy with the lads and couldn’t have asked for anymore - the only criticism was that we didn’t win by more, so that shows the positive feeling that is back around the club already.

“But obviously in terms of Saturday, Phoenix are a real handful and they nearly came back in the cup after being 3-0 down to East Grinstead.

“They’ve brought in some very good players as well, so like any game if we treat it any differently than how we did against Whitehawk we’ll come unstuck, but of course there’s absolutely no chance of my team disrespecting anybody."

First four league games: Sat Sep 19: Phoenix Sports (h), Sat Sep 26: Ramsgate (a), Sat Oct 3: Whyteleafe (h), Tue Oct 6: Sittingbourne (a).

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