Halstead Town are toning down their pre-season action this year as they look to make sure their players are fresh for the start of their Thurlow Nunn League division one promotion push.

Manager Mark Benterman said the club are changing the way they do their summer preparations from what has happened in recent years with just five squad games and one for trialists ahead of the start of the season in August.

The Town boss said more focus would be placed on fitness work on the training ground than in other years in order to make sure players were mentally and physically ready for the hectic run of fixtures that is anticipated in the early months of the campaign.

A number of leagues tended to pack more games into the pre-Christmas period last year to prevent fixture congestion in the latter stages of the season.

And Benterman said he wanted his players to be fresh for that and to avoid the injuries that plagued his squad through large spells of the 2014/15 campaign.

He said: “There will be a lot more training ground work than we’ve had in previous pre-seasons when we will be doing injury prevention work and fitness work.

“Last year we had eight or nine games before the season started, but that can be physically and mentally demanding on the players.

“This year, we have got fewer games and they are just local fixtures so we will be prepared for August 8 when the season starts.

“We are drawing on the experience we’ve had in the past few seasons and it’s all about getting the little extra from the players that may make a difference."