Newmarket Town boss Michael Shinn confident his side will be ‘competitive’ in Isthmian League North Division ahead of opener at Felixstowe & Walton United

Manager Michael Shinn is confident that his Newmarket Town side will be ‘competitive’ as the club prepares to enter into uncharted territory.

Following last season’s promotion via the Thurlow Nunn League Premier Division play-offs, the Jockeys will play their first ever fixture as a Step 4 team when they run out away at Felixstowe & Walton United on Saturday (3pm).

The Newmarket starting line-up at the Martello Ground will certainly have a familiar look to it, with Shinn having added just two new attackers – Stan Leech and Jose Santa de la Paz – to his squad over the summer.

And the boss believes that going with continuity rather than making wholesale changes will serve his group well over the course of the season.

“It’s been a calm summer. Sometimes a whole team leaves and you’ve got a lot to do, but we were very keen to give the lads that got us promoted a chance,” he said.

“We didn’t want to sign players for the sake of it and we’re happy with the two lads that have come in.

“I’m sure there will be games where we get beat, but I’m confident that in this group we’ve got the quality to be competitive every week.

“We’ll need to learn the level as quickly as we can, but there’s a real togetherness within the group from what we achieved last year and that’s got to be worth some points over the course of a season.

“I think we’ve got the players to be resilient and we’ve added some players at the top end of the pitch that should help us create chances.”

In many ways, Shinn feels that this weekend’s opponents have provided the blueprint for clubs like his own.

Since being promoted to the Pitching In Isthmian League North Division in 2019, the Seasiders have never finished below 11th and in the last three campaigns have been a top six outfit.

“It’s a tough game to start against a club that has done really well in recent years. They’re a club that a lot of others should look at. They’ve not just thrown money at it, they’ve kicked on each season and grown with some very good players.

“Boards (Stuart Boardley, manager) is doing an excellent job and maybe we could have had a kinder start, but no game will be easy this season and we have to play them all at some stage.

“If we go there and give a good account of ourselves then we’ll have a chance of picking up a result.”

Newmarket travel to the Suffolk coast following last weekend’s 3-1 home victory over March Town United in the extra preliminary round of the Emirates FA Cup.

De La Paz, Isaac Maynard and Leech were all target for the triumphant Jockeys, who will head to Wroxham in the preliminary round on August 17.