That’s the view of Hornets manager Dominic Di Paola as preparations continue in earnest for the new season.
This week’s friendlies saw Horsham thumped 5-1 at Metropolitan Police on Saturday, Shamir Fenelon netting the consolation, before going down 3-0 at Sussex rivals Worthing in the Isthmian Charity Shield on Tuesday evening.
Di Paola said: “We’ve got a fair bit of work to do. We’re a bit late to the party in terms of the Crawley friendly [scheduled for July 16] getting called off. We’ve had a few problems with players being injured, but I feel like we’re slowly getting there.
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“Against Met Police we played alright in the first half. [The result was] to be expected as it was their fifth friendly and that was our second and we had five or six boys making their first starts.
“Against Worthing I thought we were okay in the first half. In the second we weren’t really there but we were putting square pegs in round holes.
“We’ve now got two-and-a-half weeks to finalise it all really. Certain players are beginning to get up to speed but we still have a few that need to get there. I just want it to come together in the next two-and-a-half weeks.”
The Hornets’ pre-season has been plagued by injury woes. Key players such as Harvey Sparks, Jack Brivio, and Fenelon, to name a few, have missed large swathes of the off-season, while Charlie Hester-Cook and new boy Harry Osborne have been ruled out indefinitely.
Such is the issue with injuries and absences at the Camping World Community Stadium, this Saturday’s pre-season friendly at old friends Dorking Wanderers has been postponed due to player unavailability.
Di Paola continued: “Hester-Cook has had a setback with his broken ankle, which isn’t ideal. Harry Osborne is waiting on another scan.
“Tom Richards was back against Worthing, Lucas [Rodrigues] should be back soon, Sham [Fenelon] has got a bit of a problem with his ankle. We’re just trying to nurse everyone through pre-season and get some minutes into the boys.
“Jack Brivio has not been able to do much during the summer because of a knee injury in the second-to-last game of the season. Bobby [Price, new right-back] has missed a lot of pre-season and we’ve got Doug Tuck to come back in.
“Harvey [Sparks] is missing for the next three weeks. Danny Dudley and Harvey are both getting married towards the back end of pre-season so that sets us back a little in terms of our preparation.
“It’s been a bit of a balancing act and it’s been a bit cobbled together. But we’ve got to roll with it and keep pushing forward.”
But Horsham have been buoyed by the return of a fan favourite.
Chris Sessegnon has rejoined the club, just over two months after initially departing the Hornets.
The full-back, who made 28 appearances in all competitions for Horsham last season, featured in the Hornets’ pre-season win over Leatherhead on July 19 and the Charity Shield match at Worthing.
Di Paola said: “Officially he asked to come in and train with us. He’s a good lad and he’s well-liked among the group.
“But he has signed for us now. He is staying, which is good, because he's a good player, and he was a big part of the good things that we did last year.”
Horsham continue pre-season at home to Winchester City on Tuesday (August 2) evening, kick-off 7.45pm.