Hastings looking to 'improve each game' as Agutter prepares side for tough league campaign

With the fixture list being announced at the end of last week, Agutter said that it is a tough start but this season will be a lot tougher in general. He said: “If I’m brutally honest, it will be a lot tougher this season than what it was last season, I think the league is a lot more competitive.

“You only have to see the likes of VCD Athletic and Ramsgate who are spending a fair bit this season, I just think those teams are going to be up there this season, and with teams comingdown like the likes of Whitehawk and Burgess Hill, I think it’s going to be a really tough campaign to be honest.”

Hastings played their first pre-season friendly on Saturday as they came from 1-0 down to win 3-1. Agutter called it a typical pre-season friendly, where there were lots of good bits,but things were a little rusty.

He said: “We had a little bit of ring rust from the off but then once we started to get used to playing with one another, it was pretty positive, we got thewin and we learnt a lot.”They play their second pre-season game this Saturday against a Millwall XI and Agutter said he wants to see more of the same as the players build their fitness levels for the start of theseason.He said: “We’re just looking to build on what we’ve done in training and in the previous game, we’re pretty clear on how we want our game to look so it’s just about refining it and trying toimprove each game.”