SKIPPER Pete Hickerton says his Warminster side are looking to finish towards the sharp end of the WEPL Wiltshire table this season.

Hickerton, who will miss Saturday’s season opener at home to Swindon, says the club are looking to improve on last season’s fifth-placed finish.

The Warminster captain believes the club’s new overseas player, South African Bradley Parry, could be the difference for his side, as well as a heightened sense of responsibility for their younger players.

“We have a different overseas player. Brad comes in and other than that, I would say the other difference is the younger players are a year older,” he said.

“They can push on and make themselves a vital part of the team. Whereas last year, they were players within the side, now they can make themselves a cornerstone of the team.

“It’s exciting times for the younger lads. They know that they have a part to play, as do the rest of the team, so I think we are shaping up quite well.”

Their opponents, Swindon, finished one place and four points ahead of them in the league standings last season.

Hickerton, who admits his troops face a tough start to the season, is looking forward to measuring up against a familiar foe at the weekend.

“Swindon is a good yardstick for us and I think we have a tough run of games, we have all the sides who are looking to challenge for the league,” he added.

“I guess after four to six weeks we will know where we are looking at, obviously, we want to be looking at the sharp end, winning the league and getting promoted.

“In order to do that we need to beat all of those teams who will be around us so we just need to take it one game at a time, starting with Swindon.

“It’s nice to start at home. It’s obviously going to be nice and familiar so it hopefully means we can get off to a good start.

“Everyone is going to be quite green because no-one has really had a pre-season, we lost two or three games to rain.

“It will be interesting to see how sides are, we aren’t too bothered about it.”