THE season cannot come quickly enough for new Bradford Park Avenue boss Martin Drury.

But he is under no illusions as to how difficult it will be in Vanarama National North.

"It will be a competitive division next year – it looks one of the strongest leagues at this level that I've seen in a long time," said Drury.

"But that's often the case in the summer. You see big teams coming down and good teams coming up and it always looks strong.

"We're looking at it as a challenge that we're going to embrace and we're going to give it everything.

"We are not going to underestimate the level of hard work that's going to go into it because it does look very strong and I think that's good."

All three of the teams relegated from the Conference at the end of the last campaign – Alfreton Town, managed by Nicky Law, AFC Telford and Nuneaton Town – will be rivals of Avenue in the coming term.

There are also two clubs with momentum behind them after winning promotion from the Evo-Stik League Premier Division.

Avenue's old foes FC United of Manchester won the title, while Curzon Ashton came up through the play-offs after finishing fourth.

Drury said: "It will be good for the fans as well. They will be seeing better football, big teams with strong away followings, big crowds.

"The three teams coming down are all in the Northern section, so it's a very strong league.

"For the fans it will be great welcoming Greavesy and Knowlsey back (former Avenue crowd favourites Tom Greaves and James Knowles). We're looking forward to that as well.

"FC United are a great club with a good manager (Karl Marginson) and we look forward to meeting them next season.

"They've got a fantastic following and with their new ground opening and the excitement around their place and the excitement around our club, it does stand out as a nice derby.

"We've had that in the past and we're looking forward to it again."