Steve Groome wants to be in the shake-up

Steve Groome’s men kick off the new campaign at Wednesfield tomorrow knowing a top-four finish this term will see them go up because of league restructuring.

The Crown Meadow outfit finished 12th last term, but had consecutive second-place finishes in the 2014/15 and 2015/16 seasons – and Groome insists there is no reason why they cannot get back to those heights.

“We want to improve on last season and, really, with four teams being promoted, we want to be finishing in that top four,” he said.

“And, although we’ve tailed off slightly in the past few years, we finished second two seasons on the trot a number of years ago.”

Bridgnorth ended pre-season with a 6-0 loss to Market Drayton Town in the Jason Francis Memorial Trophy, but Groome is not worried.

“Pre-season has gone pretty well. The result on Saturday was not what we wanted but if you take that game out, pre-season has been very positive,” he said.

“We have got some very talented youngsters with a lot of potential coming through.

“We’ve still got the more experienced players too, but we want to give the younger lads as many opportunities as possible as they’re the future of this club.

“We’re starting at Wednesfield and it’s always tough there.

“They’ve gone through a bit of change over the summer, so we’ll see how it goes.”

Wem Town chief Josh Gough would happily taker a mid-table finish and avoid a relegation scrap.

They come into the campaign after finishing 18th last time around.

“We stayed up by the skin of our teeth last season which was a good achievement, and we’re looking to push on,” said Gough.

“We have had four or five fresh faces come in, and they’re young players getting their first taste of men’s football. We know it’s going to be tough, so it’d be nice to get into mid-table and not have to worry about the fight at the bottom.”