MANAGER Matthew Bishop is hopeful that his new-look Aberystwyth Town squad can cause a few surprises once their Welsh Premier League campaign has kicked-off at defending champions The New Saints this Sunday (ko 3pm).

The former Newport, Aldershot and Hereford assistant manager has been busy building a young squad for the new campaign, and they have been unbeaten during a positive pre-season.

After the departure of the majority of last season’s squad, Bishop and assistant Wayne Jones, the former Havefordwest boss, have recruited 15 new players, but remain realistic about their chances.

“The players have gelled very quickly, and if I’m honest we’re probably a bit ahead of where we thought we’d be,” Bishop commented.

“The team spirit and camaraderie has been really good in pre-season, we’ve played some good stuff so far, and there’s more to come from this squad of players.

“A priority during pre-season was to get the fitness levels up, but the results have gone well too.

“We’ve tried a few different systems and formations, to take a look at players in different positions, and we’ve scored some good goals, so that’s a positive too.”

Bishop’s side will face the Saints in good heart, having won all five pre-season matches, all away, against Caernarfon (2-1), Caersws (4-0), Porthmadog (3-1), Penrhyncoch (2-0) and Afan Lido (1-0).

While friendly results have been very positive, the style of play has also been encouraging as Aber prepare for life on a new 3G pitch at Park Avenue come October.

“Aber had a lot of players who were over 30, but we’ve lost eight or nine from last year for whatever reason, and it has given us an opportunity to recruit new players,” Bishop told welshpremier.com.

“The players we’ve brought in are definitely hungry, have a point to prove and a lot to offer. It is still small steps at the minute, but the ambition will be to have a team that’s competitive in the league.

“We are hoping to develop over the next few years, to work closely with the Under 19s team and have a philosophy that the runs from the Academy into the First team.”

Ongoing ground developments mean that Aber’s first 10 league matches will all be away from Park Avenue, and they could not have asked for a tougher start against full-time outfit The New Saints.

“We have to play TNS anyway, and we’re looking forward to testing ourselves against them, it will give us a grounding as to where we are,” said Bishop, who helped to lead a new-look Hereford side to Wembley in the FA Vase Final last season.

“TNS are a very good footballing side and worthy champions, but we’ll go there trying to disrupt them, and to pick something up.

“With every game being away it will be a difficult start, but we will approach the season game by game, and build up momentum.

“It’s important we don’t get crushed by having a defeat, and we might surprise a few people.

“We’ll let others judge where we are, but we are not getting carried away. We’ll stay tight as a group, and make sure we are ready.”

Striker Johsua Bull has been released from the squad having found the travelling incompatible with his work demands, and Carl Lamb was also released last week.

The full squad is as follows: 1 Dominic Richards, 2 Ricky Watts, 3 Cledan Davies, 4 Sam Rodon, 5 Will Bell, 6 Joe Clarke, 7 Geoff Kellaway, 8 Luke Sherbon, 11 Luke Borelli, 12 Greg Walters, 13 Ryan Wollacott, 14 Jack Rimmer, 15 Jonathan Evans, 16 Kostya Georgievsky, 17 Kurtis March, 18 Lewis Coyle, 21 Chris Jones.