BILLERICAY Town manager Craig Edwards says the second half of the season will be ‘the best possible pre-season’ as he looks to win the Ryman Premier League next year.

The recent investment of new owner Glenn Tamplin means Town boast one of the most talented teams in the division at this point.

But, with a host of new faces in the changing room, Edwards says competitive football until the end of the season will give his team the chance to gel in a better way than during non-competitive matches in the summer.

Although he insists he wants Billericay to rediscover their form and bid for a play-off place come the end of term - beginning with victory at Hendon tonight.

“We are playing reasonably well and we will get better,” he said. “I was asked today whether we were as good as the side that was here before the takeover and I said probably not, but that won’t be the case for long.

“The only statistic that matters is where you finish at the end of the season. We are progressing as a team and today’s match will be another progression.

“We are starting to understand each other. We had a good session on Saturday, working on team play and phases in defence and attack. My biggest attribute is team-building and my task is to build a team with some exceptionally talented players.

“We are looking to find a great run again and with the quality here I would expect us to be a force sooner rather than later.

“The rest of this pre-season could be the best pre-season we have ever had.”

Billericay’s game against Dulwich Hamlet was postponed on Saturday because of a frozen pitch, although the chances of that happening on Hendon’s 3G surface are slimmer.

Edwards added he was unconcerned that Hendon’s match against AFC Sudbury was abandoned in injury-time, with the club sacking Kevin Maclaren for his part in the fracas.

“I have enough on my plate without worrying about other teams problems but I am sure they have done it (sacked Maclaren) for the right reasons,” he said.

“We need the points but I don’t want to put undue pressure on us. I want to win every game.

“The teams at the bottom are doing OK at the moment against teams at the top, and we aren’t at the top. But we are not favourites because we are above them in the league.”

Hendon are third from bottom ahead of kick-off, with Town eight points above them but just 12 points off the play-off positions.

Defender Rob Swaine is suspended for the match, serving the final match of a ban he picked up while playing for former club Bromley, in the National League.