MANAGER Gary Hackett says his Stourbridge squad is stronger compared to this time last season.

The Glassboys begin their league campaign at Warrington Town this Saturday and the boss is bullish ahead of the clash.

A host of summer arrivals, including returning striker Luke Benbow, central defender Jack Duggan and midfielder Jake Heath from Rushall Olympic and former Halesowen attacker Aaron Daniels, have boosted the Amblecote outfit in time for the season opener.

Hackett said: “If we have a fully fit squad, we are stronger this season than last.

“We wanted to strengthen certain areas and we have been able to do that.

“The difference, however, is that we stayed relatively injury-free last pre-season but have struggled at times to give everyone the game time they need this time around due to picking up a few niggles.

“But it's a squad game and we know we are strong and will be looking to make a positive start.”

Defender Stuart Pierpoint will be missing for the start of the season and the Glassboys are set to assess the fitness of Matt Dodd, Kayleden Brown, Justin Richards and Jack Duggan ahead of the trip to Warrington.

“We won’t be rushing people back,” added the boss. “It is a long season and we know we have people we can turn to if needs be.

“We won’t be taking the game against Warrington lightly. Everything is still an unknown at this stage and it’s hard to know how strong each team will be.

“Our aim this season is to improve on last season. We were close to making the play-off and it was only very small margins that cost us in the end. Hopefully we can improve on that this time around.”

The Glassboys boosted their ranks further ahead of the weekend by securing 19-year-old left-sided player Lewis Probert.

The teenager has featured in a number of our pre-season games after joining on trial this summer having been recommended to Hackett by Cyrille Regis.

Probert began his career at Walsall where he appeared for both their youth and development squads before being released in the spring of 2015. He spent much of last season with Ryman League Division One North outfit Maldon and Tiptree.

The club have also registered highly promising 17-year-old defender Jacob Wedderburn on first team forms. Like Brandon Hague, Wedderburn was a member of last season’s successful Stourbridge youth team.