by Kevin Redsull

Deal Town manager Derek Hares says his side are up and running for the new season after 26 players attended Tuesday night’s opening training session.

Hares said he was delighted with the turn-out, which included his three new acquisitions, Jake Eastwood, from Ramsgate, and Hythe Town duo Mo Takaloo and Jason Brazier.

Hares said: "I had a good chat with the three of them and they all said they will definitely be signing for us.

"The only player who didn’t turn up was midfielder Shane Suter, who has yet to make a decision about his future."

The session was supervised by Deal’s new first-team coach Mark Harrop.

Hares added: "Mark took it a bit easy on them as it was their first session, but told them afterwards it would be tougher on Thursday (tonight), and I think he enjoyed it."

Harrop, who took a season out from the game last season after being Ramsgate coach for five years, said:

"I know Deal haven’t won anything for quite a while but there’s a lot of potential at the club and Derek has added two or three very good players to his squad."