NEW Chickerell United chief Chris Wilson is ready to embark on a “new era” as the club celebrates its centenary year.

Wilson, who led Easton United to Dorset Senior League glory last term before the island outfit was forced to fold, is looking forward to the challenge ahead but insists he will be under no pressure to repeat the second-placed finish achieved in last season’s Dorset Premier League title race.

He said: “With the exception of about four players there is nobody left from last year’s squad. The players Brendon King and Mark Carter had last year were fantastic so to come in and work with those players would have been terrific.

“However, this season is a clean slate for everyone and it’s a new era for the club in its centenary year.

“We want to represent the club well but I’m under no pressure to emulate what went on last year due to the changeover in personnel being so high.

“We’ve worked hard to bring players in and the squad has come together nicely.

When asked about the current clutch of Chickens, Wilson added: “Josh Burton, Scott Oliver, Craig Roper and Ryan Hanger are still with the club, as is Josh Why who was starting to bang on the door of the first team towards the end of last season.

“The likes of Antony Carlile, Adam and Ben Skelton, Shane Sheridan and Grant Chance have come over from Easton, Ian Bickerstaff and Scott Walker have joined from Weymouth Sports, Rob Maxted and Andy Perkins have come from Portland United and we’ve also signed Charlie Kenderdine and Sean Zima.

“So we’ve put together a really good squad. I’m not going to say that we’ll do ‘this and that’, it’s about keeping the club in the league, which I’m more than confident of doing, and then looking to build in the coming years.

“A lot of the players I’ve mentioned have got Dorset Premier League experience so there’s no doubt we will be more than competitive.

“Although there’s no pressure on us this year, that doesn’t meant we won’t be going out to win our games.

“We just have to learn to grow together because if we can keep this squad together for the next two or three years then the club will be in a great position.”

Reflecting on the disappointment of missing out on promotion with Easton, Wilson said: “The DPL is where I wanted to be when I was at Easton but it didn’t work out. I’m manager of Chickerell now so myself and the players who have also joined from Easton, need to forget about the disappointment and instead put our efforts into Chickerell.

“The club has given us a great opportunity and hopefully there are exciting times ahead.”

The Chickens get the new season underway at home to Blandford United on Saturday, before visiting Bridport Reserves next Tuesday night.