Soham boss Steve Fallon says his side have endured a “nightmare” build up to the new season but he remains confident that things will come together for Saturday when the Greens kick off their Ryman League campaign.

Fallon said that “everything that could have gone wrong has done” with regards to his pre-season preparations, with a number of injuries, player absences and retirements making for a difficult few months.

But the Greens boss is confident his side will be ready for their first match of the new season, when Heybridge Swifts visit Julius Martin Lane on Saturday before the Greens travel to Brightlingsea Regent on Tuesday.

He said: “We are still working on getting the squad together. There have been a lot of players from last year who have moved away, there have been a couple of retirements and injuries but we are working hard to replace those who have gone.

“It is a tough start to the season for us, especially because we have had to totally rebuild and some players won’t be available until a few weeks into the season.

“And we have not had the ideal pre-season, everything that could have gone wrong has done, but we are looking at the positives and we are confident everything will come together when the season starts.”

One bright point for Soham is the retention of last season’s top-scorer Luke Stanley, who Fallon said will lead the team as captain.

Soham were unable to complete their pre-season with a win after losing 2-1 to Godmanchester Rovers on Saturday.

Soham took the lead on the hour when Matt Simpson made a run into the area to meet Joey Abbs’ corner to head past the keeper.

But Rovers pulled level just five minute later to check Soham’s momentum.

And the visitors wrapped up the win five minutes from the end when a deep ball eluded the Soham defence before being mopped up at close range.