No Kidding Buddle on size of the task facing the Spartans

BLYTH Spartans captain Nathan Buddle is determined to ‘hit the ground running’ when his side opens its season with a home game against Kidderminster Harriers on Saturday.

The Croft Park club have endured three difficult years in the National League North and only secured their step two status in the final week of last season with wins over Brackley Town and Curzon Ashton.

Those two victories formed part of a positive spell of form which also contained league draws against Gloucester City and tomorrow’s opening-day opponents as well as a Northumberland Senior Cup final win against Newcastle United Under-23s.

All eyes are now firmly focused on the new season - and Terry Mitchell’s men could not have been handed a more challenging start.

Kidderminster travel north looking to make up for the play-off eliminator-round defeat they suffered against Boston United which ended their hopes of promotion into the National League last season.

Buddle admitted his side faces ‘one of the top sides’ in the division and challenged his team-mates to improve on an underwhelming 2021-22 season.

He said: “We lost a lot of lads last year and a lot of new faces came in.

“They have done well so far and we are looking forward to the new season.

“Two of the lads have not played at this level so they are looking forward to the challenge and hopefully we can hit the ground running against one of the top sides in our league.

“We have to do better than last year.”

He added: “When I came back to Blyth it was not to be in a relegation battle.

“We had a couple of difficult years during the Covid seasons but last year I did not expect it and I didn’t think anyone who came here did.

“First and foremost we want to have a better year and kick on.”

Summer signings Sam Fishburn, Matthew Elsdon, Alex Nicholson, Michael Richardson and Matty Cornish will all hope to be involved tomorrow.

Winger Josh Gillies is also in contention after recovering from a serious ligament injury.