Halstead Town will have an early chance to show off the extensive work that has been going on at Rosemary Lane this summer when the Thurlow Nunn League division one campaign kicks-off on August 8.

The fixture planners have handed them back-to-back home games in their first week as Leiston Reserves and then Cornard United visit.

There have been considerable improvement works carried out since the end of last season and the club are hoping big crowds will attend the opening games to see what has been achieved.

An invitation to employees of new club sponsors Milbanks Concrete to attend the game against Leiston for free should swell that attendance and boss Mark Benterman hopes his team can hit the ground running.

“We’ve got a very tough opening spell,” he said. “There’s the first game against Leiston Reserves on August 8, when we’re hoping for a big crowd as we’re inviting the sponsors down, then we’ve got Cornard on the Tuesday and the first week ends with a game against March Town.

“Those are three tough games, but as I’ve said to the lads, you have to play everyone twice and all we can do is look to start with a win.

“We’ll take it each game at a time, so the most important game for us now is the one against Leiston.

“It is so important to get a good start.

“You’re not going to win the league in the first month and we know the bigger picture is May, but you do need to make a good impression. It won’t be the end of the world if we don’t win that first game, but we want to do that because we want Rosemary Lane to be our fortress this year.

“It was in my first year in charge at the club and we want it to be that way again. You then have a good base and look to win as many as you can on the road.

“If you’re able to do that, you’ll be in the mix for promotion.”