Lawrence wants young squad to flourish this season

A summer of change at Clymping saw Lawrence make the step from reserve team boss to first-team manager, while a new chairman was also appointed.

Following his appointment, Lawrence has identified several talented young players for their push this season.

It’s been a tough few seasons for Clymping but their new boss feels this year could be different with a fight for Southern Combination League Division 2 promotion a real target for Lawrence.

He said: “I felt the first-team needed a real shake-up and things have changed around over the summer.

“I’ve got some really talented young players in and I’m sure they’ll succeed at this level.

“I think only three or four in our first-team are over the age of 23, so the squad has a real youthfulness about it.

“If we can start the season well then who knows where we may end up, promotion is a real target but we just need to get things going.”

Lawrence admitted firepower was something missing during his time as reserve manager but feels his front pairing of Tom Foxon and Charlie Lowdell have excelled in pre-season.

Lowdell has found the net six times in pre-season and Clymping’s boss hopes he takes that into the league.

He added: “I really struggled to find someone who regularly scored goals in my reserve team last season.

“After taking the job with the first-team, I wanted to try and find a goalscorer and in Tom and Charlie I hope I’ve got a couple.”

Clymping travel to Montpelier Villa in their first Division 2 fixture of the season on Saturday.

Lawrence knows that will be a tough test against a team who went well last season.

He said: “I can’t wait to get started with this season now. Montpelier Villa went well last season so it will be difficult but we’ll give it a good go.”

Ins: Nick Precious, Tom Foxon (both Rustington), Charlie Lowdell, Jack Brett (both Crown), Phil Reid, Jake Fuller, George Bird (Arundel), Mikey Robinson (Goring).

Out: All of last season’s first-team squad.

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