Chichester City boss: I’ll be upset if we miss play-offs

Rutherford is bullish about his team’s chances after adding striker Steve Hutchings, midfielder Conrad Honore and dual-signed defender Curtis DaCosta to the ranks.

City finished tenth last season and would have pushed for a play-off spot were it not for a couple of badly-timed runs of poor form.

City have one thing against them – they will be playing home games at Bognor’s Nyewood Lane for the first half of the season while a new 3G pitch is installed at their Oaklands Park home.

But they hope the Nye Camp will become a home from home and they can replicate the form they showed in front of their own fans in 2022-23.

City’s competitive season got off to a losing start on Saturday when they lost 1-0 away to Southall in the extra preliminary round of the FA Cup.

Rutherford was disappointed with that – but is confident for the season ahead. "Our pre-season has been very disrupted and we’ve not had enough games,” he admitted.

"We’re a little bit behind where we should be but in a couple of weeks we’ll be fully up to speed.

"So it was a shame our first game was in the FA Cup. It’s an important competition and we weren’t quite ready for it. That said, it was a very tight game and could have gone 1-0 either way.

"We’ve had good FA Cup runs in recent years so maybe we were due an early exit.

"I’m happy with the squad we have and think we’ll be okay. It will be a difficult league again but I’d hope we can be up and around the play-offs.

"In fact I will be upset if we are not in the play-offs this year.”

Rutherford is delighted to have landed veteran striker Hutchings from Moneyfields after many years of trying.

Ex-Worthing man Honore and DaCosta – on dual terms from AFC Portchester – will also be good additions, although City have lost Connor Cody to Whitehawk.

Chi start their league fixtures at Phoenix Sports on Saturday and play have their first Nyewood Lane match on August 26, v Lancing.