Lewes set to welcome new trio ahead of league opener at Enfield

Lewes in pre-season action at home to Tonbridge / Picture: James Boyes

The Rooks are expecting to announce as many as three new members of the squad today ahead of a tough-looking Isthmian premier opener at Enfield tomorrow (Sat 19).

It will leave Langton happy with the strength and the size of his squad at the start of a campaign he rates as completely unpredictable.

Langton says lockdown and the long break between competitive games will result in a drop in standards across football. And he says any team could find the start of the season chaotic.

After six months without a league or cup game, the Rooks are delighted to be back at it – even if their season-opening schedule will be hectic.

After the visit to Enfield, Lewes visit step four side Bedfont Sports in the first qualifying round of the FA Cup on Tuesday. And they’ll be playing twice a week for much of the early part of 2020-21.

Langton told the Express: “We’re pleased to be back in competitive action and actually playing for something, whether it’s league points or a place in the next round of the Cup.

“When we trained on Tuesday night you could sense that the players were stepping it up and thinking ‘Hang on, will I have the shirt on Saturday?’ and that’s great to see.

“I’m happy with the squad and will be near to full strength on Saturday. I hope we’ve created good competition for places.”

Langton believes the 2020-21 season will be a strange one.

“Because of the lockdown, football has changed massively,” he said.

“The overall quality and standard will be way lower. Players have not played for a long time and coming back and playing top football for 90 minutes is nigh-on impossible.

“It will take a while for all teams to settle down and there will be sides beating others in results you’d not normally think would be possible.

“The first 20 minutes of first games will see players over-exuberant and there could be chaos.”

Lewes are guarded about their own aims, but they don’t want to be anywhere near the drop zone.

“We want to improve on our home form – last year it was awful, shocking. We want supporters to enjoy watching us and know that we are giving it everything. And we don’t want to be looking over our shoulders,” Langton added.