Leese still feels he is ‘two players short’ as big kick-off approaches for Poppies

Having been appointed fairly late into the summer, the new Poppies boss has had a busy couple of months as he assembles a new-look line-up as Kettering head back into life at Step 3.

The new season kicks off with a short trip to Stamford on Saturday (3pm kick-off) and Leese has added three further new faces to his squad this week with the arrivals of midfielder James Carvell and defenders Lucas Purse, son of former Birmingham City and Cardiff City centre-back Darren, and Owen Cochrane, who has joined on a season-long loan from Stevenage.

Leese is ready to go with what he’s got for the early stages of the new season but it seems his recruitment process isn’t over just yet.

“It was a later start for us here and we have been trying to catch up,” the Poppies boss said.

“We are okay. I think we have done quite well with building the squad.

“It’s classic manager’s speak but I think we are probably two players short of where we need to be.

“We will know more as we go through the start of the season.

“We will know more in the first six to eight games and even more in the first dozen games about whether we have got what we need to tackle this league.

“But I am reasonably happy with what we have achieved in the time we have been here when it comes to getting the squad together and getting the understanding and familiarity.

“I said when I first arrived that we wouldn’t be ready for July 1. Are we ready for August? Almost.

“A lot of work has gone into it in a condensed amount of time but we have two more sessions this week to finesse what we want to do.”

Kettering Town confirmed squad so far: Billy Johnson, Owen Cochrane, Kelvin Langmead, Luca Purse, Lewis White, Ben Toseland, Rhys Sharpe, Harry Reilly, Huw Dawson, James Carvell, Charley Barker, Gary Stohrer, Luca Miller, Kai O’Keefe, Tyrone Lewthwaite, Sam Bennett.