BROMSGROVE men's first team have welcomed two old players back to strengthen them for the Coaching Solutions West Midlands Division One.

Attacker Paul Yates, who has missed the last two seasons with a series of shoulder problems, is set to start the first league home game against West Bromwich on Saturday, October 1.

Former captain Alex Fraiser is also back at the club after a four-year absence and is set to be named as first team goalkeeper.

Fraiser's return is a boost as last season's goalkeeper, Paul Cox, will miss games this season because of work commitments.

Captain Julian Court said: "Paul and Alex are both experienced players and they will add something to the team."

However, Bevan Edwards started university in September and will miss the season.

Court is hoping that his side can find some consistency this season to launch a promotion campaign.

In recent seasons Bromsgrove have been inconsistent and have missed out on a top two finish because of that.

Court said: "We know we can play well, but we are a bit Jekyll and Hyde and can't string results together.

"A good start might help us get a run going and then we can see where we are going."

Cancelled fixtures have disrupted Bromsgrove's pre-season preparations.

The Boars were supposed to play Old Hales and Redditch in September, but both fixtures were cancelled.

The team is also looking for a new coach to replace James Hayward. The coach, who plays for newly promoted West Bromwich, quit Bromsgrove because league rules do not allow him to be involved with two clubs in the same division.

Bromsgrove completed their pre-season preparations with a 2-0 loss to West Bromwich on Saturday.

Despite the defeat captain Julian Court did not believe it would affect their opening fixture of the season on Saturday, October 1 against West Brom at home (1pm start).

He said: "We treated the game as a training match and experimented with a few different formations, while West Brom took it very seriously.

"To be honest I think we learnt more about them from the game than they learnt about us."

Left-back Marcus Dawson is an injury doubt for the match, but Fraiser and Yates are both set to make the game.