BARNOLDSWICK Town manager Andy Clarkson, is confident that his side can continue to build, after the club announced their pre-season plans ahead of next season.

After recently taking part in the Festival of Football at Clitheroe FC, Town will have the chance to increase fitness levels and game time further, with a set of six friendlies being confirmed.

Notable fixtures include ties against local rivals Steeton, Clitheroe and Blackpool Wren Rovers.

And Clarkson believes the pre-season offering is a great chance for his side to develop and move forward.

He said: "It's a massive chance for us to build on our performances at the Clitheroe tournament.

"We took over back in November, and we only managed to play three games last season due to Covid.

"The friendlies will give us a chance to look at a number of things. I'm happy with our style of play, but there is a couple of formations that we do want to try out, including a three at the back.

"We also want to look at two strikers up top. We want to make sure that we are tight at the back, but then have the ability to counterattack and break on opponents.

"We've got some good friendlies against the likes of Clitheroe and Bamber Bridge who are both Evo-Stik, so that will be a good challenge for us, to see where we are and where we need to be, to get to that level.

"And obviously it will give us a great chance to look at some young lads, to see whether they are ready to make the step up to the first team."

Clarkson added: “After the pre-season friendlies, I think we've got as a good as a chance as anybody in that league, especially as we are bringing in a couple of additions.

"Overall, I think next season should be a decent one for us."

Ahead of the up-and-coming transfer window, Clarkson revealed that there will be two or three new additions coming into the club.

He said: "There will be at least two additions coming into the squad, possibly three.

"One addition I can mention is Ricardo Egidi. Ricardo was my striker at a previous club I managed at and he's going to join us in pre-season.

"He's a big six-foot strong lad, so that will add strength to our squad and our attacking line-up. We've also got a couple more players potentially arriving, and they could be revealed soon."

And discussing next season, Clarkson is confident that his side can accomplish a top half finish in the North West Counties Premier Division.

He said: "Realistically, I would love to finish in the top eight but finishing as high as possible is the thing we will look to do.

"Of course, every manager is going to say we want promotion, but I think we've got to be realistic, because there's a couple of good sides in our league. The number of teams to be promoted hasn't been announced yet either. We would also like to have a right good go at doing well in the FA Vase, which is always a tasty one at our level."