MANAGER Gary Bailey is looking forward to gelling his squad together in pre-season, as the Blues begin their friendly schedule at Gillingham Town tomorrow (7.45pm).

Portland, promoted to the Sydenhams Wessex League Premier Division this term, have benefitted from an influx of players arriving at Grove Corner over the summer from Bridport, as well as former Bees’ interim boss Mark Carter joining the coaching staff.

And the island manager is excited to seeing how his new-look set-up performs.

Bailey told Echosport: “Sometimes things in football fall into your lap. It’s no different than the new Bridport manager going there and bringing in players from Chard, that’s what happens in football.

“There has been a changing of the guard down at Bridport and we have capitalised on that.

“The players trust Reggie (Mark Carter) and enjoyed working with him during his time at Bridport.

"They have a huge respect for him, as I do, that’s why I brought him into the club.

“With some new coaching staff and some new ideas we want to try it’s exciting times and we are looking forward to the next couple of games to see how things shake down.”

He added: “It’s a time where hopefully the hard work over the last four or five sessions the boys have put in pays off and we start seeing some progress.

“Obviously there are some new faces to blend in and they have fitted in really well in training. Most of them know each other anyway so it’s not like we are bringing in complete strangers to the set-up.”

* Portland will hold their AGM at the Blues Club on Tuesday, July 19 (7.30pm).