Eastbourne Town are busy building up towards the new Isthmian South East season – so we caught up with manager Jude Macdonald to check on their progress, which the boss sees as very positive.

Jude, give us an update about how the squad is shaping ip for next season?

We have been really fortunate we haven't had to do much business this summer because so many of our squad from last year wanted to stay. Recruitment in non-league is the single hardest part of the job and, especially with some of the figures being paid around Sussex, this year has been harder than ever.

It's a real testament to the players' appreciation of their teammates that so many wanted to stay, despite getting calls and offers from elsewhere.

Sonny Walsh has rejoined Eastbourne Town -shortly after leabing for Hastings United

placeholder image — Sonny Walsh has rejoined Eastbourne Town -shortly after leabing for Hastings United

We have announced our retained list, which was almost every player from last season – Chris Winterton, Leon Greig, Nathan Hover, Jack Murphy, JJ Walker, Harvey Greig, Alfie Simmons, Eliot Jenks, Luke Emberson, Anesu Sisimayi, Marcin Ruda, Aussie Pugh, Oliver Davies, Ed Ratcliffe, Alfie Rogers, Aaron Capon.

In terms of players leaving, we have seen James Waters join Haywards Heath after nearly 150 appearances for Town, Sam Forbes-Parker has joined Steyning, Ian Robinson has joined Haywards Heath, and Jimmy Holman has signed a pro deal with Coventry City, amazing news for him and fully deserved.

We have signed Oli Deda from Lancing, a versatile defender and one of the top young players in the county.

We have also re-signed Sonny Walsh - Sonny had previously decided that his future lay elsewhere, but I think there were some goalposts that had been moved and so he wanted to come back. I am obviously delighted to have him back.

Town boss Jude Macdonald | Picture by Josh Claxton

How is pre-season so far?

It has been great so far, some good numbers and really hard sessions, plus one game against Tunbridge Wells, which was a really tough challenge. We have a really tough pre-season this year, which is what we wanted, especially after last year where we didn't lose a game and it set us up badly.

Much more to come squad-wise?

We aren't really actively looking to recruit anybody else but, like any club, we’re always interested when good players come available so we will be keeping a keen eye on the market in August, September and October.

Since we've been in charge at Town, some of our best signings have been in-season and I don't see that changing, especially with the way that the market has been in the off-season.

How have the FA Cup and Trophy draws turned out for you?

We have been drawn away in the FA Cup to AFC Varndeanians – to be played at Peacehaven. Four of our six pre-season games are on 3G so that gives us some good prep going into that game. They seem to be in a similar situation to us where they are retaining a lot of last year's squad and so we expect them to be really organised.

In the FA Trophy, we have a bye for the third year running and so do not play until August 29, when we face Bedfont Sports at home.We don't know much about them so it will be a case of trying to get eyes on them early season to find out.