AFC Telford manager Liam Watson believes his squad of almost entirely new players are finally starting to gel ahead of their FA Trophy clash at Worcester City on Saturday.
Watson oversaw a massive overhaul in the summer - only two of his current crop remain from last season.
And with nearly 50 comings and goings over the summer, a period of adaptation is hardly surprising, but Watson feels his side are now starting to play like a team.
"We had to sign 18 or 19 players in the summer and 30 left us," revealed Watson.
"Dan Preston is still here, but he’s out on loan, and our 'keeper Ryan Young is the only other player who was at the club last year.
Worcester City v AFC Telford United
The FA Carlsberg Trophy
First Round Proper
3pm, Saturday 30 November
Winners receive £5000
"There has been a big turnaround in personnel and obviously it takes a while for all the new players to gel."
Telford currently sit in sixth in a congested Conference North, one place outside the play-offs and one point off the top.
Should they make it past Worcester City at the weekend, Watson feels a draw against higher-league opposition in the next round would provide a good test for his charges.
He added: "Obviously it will give me a little bit of an idea of how they would cope if we were to get into the Conference National next year.
"I’ll be able to see how they would adapt to that level and pitch them against good Conference players.
"It gives you an opportunity to look at the players who haven’t played at that standard of football yet."
Telford have a lot of history in The FA Trophy, reaching the Final five times and Watson views the chance of playing at Wembley as an added bonus and not a hindrance to his side’s promotion campaign.
“The FA Trophy is a great competition.”
Liam Watson AFC Telford United manager
"It doesn’t get in the way at all," he said. "I think the two competitions go hand in hand - you just want to carry on winning games.
"The FA Trophy is a great competition and the thought of getting to Wembley is always something that you should be really aspiring to."
And Watson is confident that the three-time Trophy winners will make it past Worcester and into the Second Round Proper, even though they only managed a draw against the relegation-threatened club earlier on in the season.
"If we can create as many chances on Saturday as we did in the league game, I’ll be very happy," he claimed.
"We had an awful lot of chances that night and they wouldn’t go in - it was just one of those games.
"But Worcester are on a good little run of form themselves and we had a game on Saturday and Tuesday, so we know it’s not going to be easy."
