Haringey Borough face a difficult task in getting out of the Isthmian Premier this season, but manager Tom Loizou is aiming high and believes promotion is the goal for his talented group of players.
Results in pre-season may have appeared to have not gone to plan for Haringey but the opposition faced, including the likes of Sutton United and Chelmsford City, demonstrate Borough didn’t take the easy option.
Like many, Loizou believes performances are far more important than results at this stage and noted that the whole back four, or five at times, has impressed him throughout their pre-season journey.
Loizou also noted his most important task of pre-season was signing the players who had been with the club last season and this job is ‘99.9 per cent done'.
Equally as important is the fact he managed to keep hold of all of his coaching and backroom staff who volunteer their time for the club.
Haringey Borough face stiff competition this season as the Isthmian Premier is home to many fine teams.
Loizou listed Kingstonian, Bishop’s Stortford, Worthing, and Hornchurch as being real contenders for the title, as well as a few others he thought would be there or thereabouts battling alongside hs side for promotion.
Despite the fact Loizou believes his side are ‘batting above their average,’ he is targeting a place in the play-offs and would be very disappointed with a finish below fifth, meaning their dream of going up would be cut short by not even making it into those valuable playoff spots where anything could happen.
He also acknowledged the most important thing for the club is to at least stay in the division and, due to the fact four teams now get relegated, it is more important than ever to get points on the board.
Loizou has high hopes for new signing Tyrese Owen ahead of the upcoming campaign and having talisman Jorge Djassi-Sambu back to full fitness is a real boost for the White Hart Lane-based side.
Above all else, the Haringey Borough manager cannot wait to return to a packed Coles Park Stadium and believes seeing the Haringey Borough faithful in their numbers will be a huge boost to the players and staff as they have had far too long without encouragement from the stands.
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