Brighouse Town’s pre-season fell apart in their last two friendlies but that has not dampened the enthusiasm within the club ahead of tomorrow’s opening league fixture.

The Hove Edge outfit had a bright start to their last campaign but dropped off the pace, to the extent that then manager Mark Brier decided to quit football and follow his musical interests. That led to Mick Couzens being appointed after impressing at the interview stage.

Town vice-chairman Ray McLoughlin said: “We lost a lot of last season’s squad, while Mark was still here, because they were poached by other clubs higher up the ladder.

“But Mick has been true to his word and brought new people with him. In fact, there are a lot of new faces around the club.

“The pre-season has been good and, to be honest, we have been chuffed with some of the results and with what Mick has done so far.

“He and his coaches have taken what was left of last season’s squad, introduced new players and still managed to build a team spirit within weeks.

“Some of the younger lads that Mark brought through our youth system and the new players that Mick has introduced are already battling for each other and look like being a good squad.”

While the committee are delighted with the progress Couzens has overseen in his short tenure, they are still mindful that they are in a tough division.

Town slipped to 16th in the 20-strong Northern Counties East League Premier Division last term and although they had a points cushion, they were still nervously hovering above the relegation zone.

“We have a tough league game tomorrow to start our season – but in fairness, there won’t be any easy ones,” said McLoughlin.

“We have Staveley MW on the opening day of the season and they are one of the fancied clubs because they have money to spend. Their chairman is the man who runs Baris, which is the company that has taken over the title sponsorship of the league this season.

“I don’t begrudge them the money that he will be putting into the team at his club because, let’s face it, if we could find a benefactor with that kind of clout, we would all use it.

“It is the same from the Premier League down. It makes it difficult because you can’t compete on equal terms but it adds to the competition and puts all the pressure on the likes of Staveley.”