WEST Wilts captain James Baker says his side are planning to blood new talent this season after their relegation from the second tier of the Davis Wood Hockey League.

West Wilts finished ninth in the Championship last season, ten points ahead of tenth-placed Bristol University A, but still went down into the Conference North division.

But after recruiting coach Callum Wolff, Baker says that the club have re-vamped the relationship between their first and second teams and are hoping to reap the rewards.

“Because our league was fed into by two divisions, you never really know at the end of the season how many teams will be going down due to how many want to come up,” said the West Wilts skipper.

“We’d got a decent amount of points together but, unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to stay up – these things happen.

“Because we’re going to be in a league where the teams aren’t going to be as tough, it gives us the chance to get some fresh blood into the side and not worry about throwing them in at the deep end.

“We’ve brought in a professional coach, which has made a massive impact already, and we’ve also got the firsts and the seconds training together, rather than being separate teams.

“That gives us more of a squad and adds some fluidity to the club.”

West Wilts Ladies kick off their new East Division campaign with a trip to league newcomers Yeovil and Sherborne 2 tomorrow.

Melksham Ladies face a tough trip to last season’s Wessex Division One runners-up Team Bath Buccaneers 4.

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