BRAINTREE Town manager Glen Driver says the common factor in his Iron signings so far is a hunger to prove themselves in the second tier of non-league football.

And the Iron boss is backing his players to have the desire they need to be individual successes and have collective joy in the Vanarama National League South this season.

Since becoming Braintree manager last month, Driver has had to build a squad from scratch and has brought in young up-and-coming players who he feels can step up and impress. He said: “We have gone out and tried to sign good hungry players.

“That is what the budget we have allows us to do and we have got players on board who follow our philosophy.

“They aren’t players who will bully their way through, they want to play football and we feel we are signing the right players who will work hard on the ball.

“It is starting to take shape.

“There are probably three or four more additions as we know where we are still short but we have had to start from scratch and there’s been a lot of hard work gone in.

“We are still five weeks away from the start of the season and there’s still plenty of time for the players to gel.”

Driver said he is still looking to add a bit more experience to his squad, but having players like young striker Tom Richardson in already was making him happy with the look of his side as they started pre-season training this week.

“Tom Richardson is a prime example of the type of player we are looking to have here,” added Driver. “He played for East Thurrock, but wasn’t there for too long and he ended up at Aveley, which is a couple of leagues below.

“That kind of drop could kill the confidence of some players, but I said to him ‘I personally believe I can get that hunger out and it’s my job to give you the confidence and positivity to go out there and express yourself at this level again’.

“I’m a manager who is going to judge you over the course of a number of games rather than just one or two and we have these players who are stepping up who maybe haven’t been given a fair crack in the past.

“We can’t offer the biggest money in the division, but we will give you as players the chance to express yourselves.

“We demand enough from you, but your hunger should be set in stone.

“Go out there and prove people wrong if they have doubted you and prove to yourself that you can be the player we know you are. That’s what we have gone after in our recruitment.”