I might only get one crack at this with what we’ve got at our disposal here, says promotion-chasing Ramsgate boss Nick Davis

RAMSGATE manager Nick Davis says he is being backed to win promotion from the Isthmian League South East Division this season.

 

The Rams impressed during their 3-3 home draw against Crystal Palace at Southwood Stadium yesterday, which highlighted the fact that the club should be challenging for promotion this season.

“I might only get one crack at this with what we’ve got at our disposal here,” said Davis.

“There’s a lot of ambition at the club.  We’ve turned a lot of heads. 

“We’ve got some tough decisions to make in the coming weeks because we do need to trim the squad down to 16 or 17 players’ from that 22 but there might be one or two that will be coming in as well. 

“We’re going for it! There’s no two ways about it and we have to make sure we have the best squad and we cover all basics the best we can.”

When asked why he’s not running with a larger squad, Davis replied: “You want people happy as well. You can’t have too many players. What do you do with the other four? They’ll just be sitting in the stand.

“If we can have a couple of dual-reg that will be ideal and that might be the case.

“You look at the sides that done really well and the strength in depth of those sides.  You look at Cray Wanderers’, Horsham’s and Ashford’s benches and it shows you how strong they are because a lot of the starting eleven’s in the league are much of a muchness. It’s when the injuries and suspensions come in and you have to stretch your side and unfortunately the bench has just not been strong enough.

“We’re not going to achieve anything with 11 players. We probably going to need 20-25, maybe more as the season goes on but it’s hard to keep them happy.”

Ramsgate kick-off their Isthmian League South East Division campaign with a home game against newly-promoted side Chichester City on Saturday 17 August 2019 (15:00).

“I know the league really well but I know nothing about Chichester,” admitted Davis, who guided the club to an eleventh-place finish last time out.

“I’ve seen their league form last year was remarkable, 38 games, they lost four of them in a strong league.

“They’ve got momentum with them but I don’t know too much about them so we’re going to get them watched as my sides always do.  Our scout will go and watch them.

“We feel we’ll have a chance this year so we are going to be competing and we are going to be in that top five, bring on anyone really!”

Ramsgate continue their pre-season preparations with a visit from Southern Counties East Football League side Crowborough Athletic on Tuesday 16 July (19:45).

Visit Ramsgate’s website: www.ramsgate-fc.co.uk