Countdown starts in earnest

THE countdown to the new season starts in earnest this week with Seagulls boss Neil Young set to field what he considers his strongest available side in the remaining four friendlies - starting at Buckley Town on Tuesday (July 28, 7.30pm).
Although Alex Hay is still away and Danny Jarrett is unavailable through work commitments, Anthony Sheehan is back from holiday.
Left winger Kevin Holsgrove, who made such a good impression in the 4-3 win over Hyde United, has family commitments, but the manager says talks are continuing with him and he is expected to train with the squad on Thursday.
In goal at Buckley will be Terry McCormick, who was with Connah's Quay last season and could possibly be an additional goalkeeping option for the squad. Chris Sanna only returns from America this week but is suspended for the opening league game against FC Halifax Town, while Farai Jackson has been out with a hamstring injury, but is hoping to start light training this week.
Neil Young said that the decision to play Dave Challinor in goal last weekend was a planned move after early attempts to find a stand-in keeper were unsuccessful.
"We have not been playing well defensively and we thought it would be good for Dave to play behind the defence to help organise them a bit and to give us his thoughts on what the problems were.
"In that respect it was a useful exercise and we had a good chat afterwards. It was also a chance to give Dave some valuable minutes on the pitch to help him back to match fitness after his injury."
Also in the squad against Buckley will be Robbie Williams who has been training with Llandudno and played for them last Saturday.
The Manager explained: "Robbie is still a member of our squad, but he can't get up to Wirral to train with us and as Llandudno were a bit short last Saturday he asked if he could have a full game with them to help boost his fitness levels rather than have just 20 to 25 minutes with us against Hyde, and that made good sense."