HALSTEAD Town skipper Jake Brown has his fingers crossed that he'll be fit to face Wormley Rovers as the Humbugs get their Thurlow Nunn League division one south campaign under way on Saturday.

Revenge will be on the agenda for Halstead as Wormley were the side who beat them 4-1 on the final day of last season to deny a top-two finish and the opener will be followed by a trip to Brightlingsea Regent Reserves on Tuesday and then a return to FA Cup action the following weekend.

Brown is a doubt for Saturday's game against Wormley after sitting out the final pre-season game against Saffron Walden Town in midweek with a hamstring problem, however, he is hoping that he'll be fit to start.

He said: “I’ve had a bit of a tight hamstring through the whole of pre-season and I just overstretched a bit in a tackle against Witham (last Saturday).

“Rather than risking it with the season starting the next weekend, we thought it better to rest it and hopefully it will be OK for this week.

“Fingers crossed I’ll be fit for Saturday."

Brown feels that Halstead are in a good position heading into the first game and has been impressed with their pre-season preparations this year.

“I think it’s gone really well," he added.

“The lads were brilliant against Witham and the way we controlled the second half was impressive.

“I felt we were so unlucky not to get something from the game.

“Also in the game against the Paras before that, we ground it out for 60 minutes, earned the right to play and then took our chances in the last half hour of the game.

“We’ve had some really good training sessions and I think it’s standing us in good stead for the season.

“But it’s going to be massive for us to make a good start.

“There are eight games in August, with the FA Cup game in there as well, so it’s going to be really important that we get off to a good start this year."

Meanwhile, Halstead have been handed a home draw in the preliminary round of this year's Essex Senior Cup and if they progress through that game, the Humbugs will then entertain Hashtag United in the first round.

A league meeting with Hashtag at the Milbank Stadium last season was played in front of a crowd of more than 800 people.