WINCHESTER City will not be touted as one of the favourites for the promotion from the Evo-Stik South Division One South, but manager Craig Davis reckons he has a stronger group than last season.

The Citizens have been “scaling back” budget-wise, but some useful summer additions – combined with a great team spirit – has filled Davis with optimism for the new campaign which kicks off at Mangotsfield United on Saturday (3pm).

“I’m looking forward to it,” said Davis. “We’ve got a good group of lads here and we’ve had a good pre-season. The results mean nothing, but the performances have been encouraging in some tough games.

“We’ve been scaling back where we can as a club but, despite that, I think we’ve got a stronger group than last year, full of hungry players who want to do well.

“We’re not going to be favourites to do much this season, but we’re confident and we will grow and get better.”

City’s new additions are defender Sam Roberts (AFC Totton), striker Reece Rusher and centre-back Connor Cocklin (Andover Town), wideman Jake Rawkins (Bemerton Heath Harlequins), hotshot Tyrell Mitford (Team Solent) and Lamar Koroma (Woking U23s).

In addition, a quartet of existing youth team players will supplement Winchester’s first-team squad – Josh Corner, Harvey Clark, Josh Tombs and Ben Sunley.

“We’ve got a squad of 19 or 20 and it’s quite a young group,” said Davis.

“There’s not much to choose between a lot of teams in this league and I think it will be tight again.

“As always, the clubs that spend the most tend to finish higher but, for us, it’s all about maximising what we’ve got and trying to better what the budget is.

“Keeping injury-free and getting a bit of luck are all aspects for doing well. “Team spirit was big for us last season (when Winchester finished 11th) and it’s even better this year.

“I’ve often said that team spirit is our best player.

“We’ve cut as many corners as we can while still remaining as competitive as we can and I’m happy with what we’ve got.

“I wouldn’t swap our players for what a lot of other teams have got.” City have two key absentees as they prepare to face a Mangotsfield side who came 16th last term.

Winger Rob Carr is on honeymoon, while midfielder Liam Gilbert is still struggling with an Achilles problem sustained in pre-season against Sholing.

“It’s annoying because I was just about to take Liam off and he picked up the injury in the last few minutes,” said Davis.

“He’ll be out a couple of weeks at least.”

Winchester’s opening home fixture promises to be a cracker against newly-promoted Thatcham Town on Tuesday (7.45pm).

The Berkshire side enjoyed an incredible 2017/18 campaign, winning the Hellenic Premier Division title and lifting the FA Vase at Wembley.

“Thatcham will be on the crest of a wave and they’ll be right up there this season I’d imagine,” said Davis.

“They’ve got quite a few ex-Winchester players – Andy Jenkinson, Matt Benham and our ex-youth player Mikey Miller – plus their manager Danny Robinson was here. I’ve got a lot of time for Danny.”

On Saturday, August 25, the Citizens will entertain Sydenhams Premier Division outfit Bournemouth Poppies in the FA Cup preliminary round.

Poppies booked their slot with a dominant 2-0 win at Bashley, settled by two early headers from Micky Finch and Steve Flynn.