GRANT Joshua insists Rugby Town will not hide away from the club’s tag as promotion favourites ahead of Valley’s season opener this weekend.
Valley return to Step Five after suffering relegation from the Northern Premier League Midlands last season.
And Rugby head into the season off the back of five wins from six pre-season matches.
Valley rounded off their pre-season schedule with a 1-0 win against Step Four side AFC Rushden and Diamonds.
And Joshua believes the club’s recruitment strategy this summer has allowed the club to enjoy a strong pre-season campaign.
Joshua said: “We’re in a far better place than this time last year.
“We’ve had a very encouraging pre-season. We got our recruitment sorted early doors and it’s been a matter of fine tuning since then.
“Last year was very scattergun all round, but we feel much more in control now.
“We tried to put together a schedule with a bit of everything.
“Two teams a step below, two at the same level and two above on testing pitches and up against strong physical outfits.
“Despite missing a few key players, we still managed to give a team I reckon will be challenging for promotion at Step Three a really competitive game.”
Rugby return to the United Counties League Premier Division South as one of the favourites to bounce straight back to Step Four.
And Joshua hopes to put the club back in the right direction following relegation last season.
Joshua added: “We know we’ll automatically be tagged as one of the favourites – if not the favourite, and there’s no point hiding from that.
“We have our own goals, objectives and targets though, and it’s pretty obvious what we need to achieve after the last season’s disappointment.
“It may be a cliche, but we’ll take it game-by-game and hopefully show what we’re capable of and get this club back on an upward trajectory.”
Rugby begin the season with a trip to Histon on Saturday, July 25 with kick-off at 3pm at Bridge Road.
