Match Preview

Nathan Haslam believes Whitby Town's Pitching In Northern Premier League Premier Division opener against Atherton Collieries this weekend will be a "tough tie" against an "unknown quantity".

The Seasiders begin their campaign with a home fixture on Saturday afternoon (kick-off 3pm) against Colls who only just stayed up on the final day of the 2022/23 season.

The fixture could see new signings Jacob Gratton, Jerome Greaves, Junior Mondal, Sam Spenceley and Alfie Doherty make their first competitive outings since joining the club.

On Whitby's opening day assignment and the importance of it being at home, manager Haslam said: "I think every game's a tough game throughout the season. Teams don't quite know what to expect but we're expecting a tough tie against them.

"They've got a new manager and it's a totally new team to the team of last year so they are a real unknown quantity going into the season.

"For the last three seasons we've been away so it will be nice to be at home this time. We need to get as many fans there as we can and try and get us off on the right kind of start. We're hoping for a big crowd that can hopefully cheer us on to victory."

Reflecting on his side's pre-season campaign, Haslam added: "There are lots of positives for us. Looking at it, it couldn't have gone any better in terms of the performances but it is pre-season though so we're not getting too far ahead of ourselves.

"We've had the usual stuff to deal with in terms of injuries and holidays which have disrupted things slightly but I can't fault the lads' effort as a whole, they've done everything we've asked of them so it's just about carrying that forward into the league."

Following a number of strong pre-season performances, Haslam could be left with a selection headache come Saturday afternoon. On that topic, the Blues boss said: "I think we're the strongest we've ever been in terms of depth, I'm really happy with the squad.

"There are lads who are obviously going to be left out but on the whole I think we've got a really good dressing room now so while people are disappointed, they know they've got to fight for their place and there's a mutual respect there that when they play they know they've got to take their chance.

"I'm very, very optimistic as we always are and I'm really happy with what we've got. We're all looking forward to it now."

Tickets for the fixture are priced at £12 for adults, £8 for concessions and £4 for under-18's, while under-16s go FREE with a paying adult. Tickets can be purchased here.