THESE summer breaks seem to be getting shorter and shorter but that's fine by me because I'm relishing another crack at the title.

Five weeks of pre-season has passed quickly and it's now down to the serious business of producing performances, winning games and mounting another championship challenge starting with the visit of Havant & Waterlooville on Saturday.

The Dr Martens Premier Division gets stronger each year but so as a club do Worcester City and I feel we are equipped to build on the progress we made last season.

We are setting our sights high -- to win the league.

Whether we do or not will ultimately depend on a variety of factors but we've prepared the squad well, have got some new blood and it's a good dressing room with a first-rate attitude and application.

The tone has been set during City's pre-season programme, which pitched us against some pretty good opposition, the likes of Wolves, West Brom and QPR.

That has stood us in good stead and though the Beveren game came perhaps a little early, it was nevertheless a brilliant experience for the club to play in Belgium and a good bonding exercise for the players which they appreciated.

My summer seemed to merge into an endless round of phonecalls and meetings with transfer targets but it's been worthwhile with the capture of Leon Kelly, Barry Woolley and Kevin Halliday.

It's my stated policy to only bring in players that improve what is already there. That's a great philosophy on paper but it makes for a complicated life because the players in question are wanted by lots of other clubs too so competition is fierce.

Fortunately with the support of City's board we have managed to bring in Leon, Barry and Kevin and I'm delighted to have all three.

More importantly the new arrivals have fuelled competition for places and also given us extra flexibility.

Competition can work in one of two ways. Players either rise to the challenge or crumble - I've seen it happen at previous clubs. I will be watching closely at City because now I've got real options and I want to see players rising to that challenge and giving me real selection headaches.

One player who will definitely do that is Jon Holloway whose commitment to the cause is clear for all to see every time he pulls on a shirt.

Bath City recently made a cash offer for Jon but both club and player rejected it out of hand because at St George's Lane we are in the business of building something, not dismantling it and Jon very much wants to be a part of it.

Expectation is something that most managers have to live with and at Worcester after last year it will be high again.

I can live with that because I'm not in this league to make up the numbers. From the supporters, through to the board, backroom staff and players we are all united in one aim -- to win this league.

There's a long way to go but the talking is nearly over and the time for action upon us so all that's left to say is roll on Saturday, get behind us and let's see what we can do.