Braintree Town assistant manager Nicky Cowley hopes their pre-season fixture list will expose their players to the different tests that they will experience in the Vanarama National League this season.

The Iron have nine fixtures planned, with a further two for Braintree Town XI sides, ahead of the start of the 2015/16 season and Cowley said it is a schedule that has been specifically arranged to get the team to line up against a range of playing styles.

He said: “We’ve tried to pick a variety of games against teams that present different problems and with different playing styles that will replicate the different styles we’ll come across in the season.

“That way we can show the players ways to deal with different scenarios and situations that they will come up against.

“You have to be able to adapt to different styles of opposition and we’ve got a pre-season planned that will bring us up against different styles.

There are a few against pro clubs when we’ve got sides coming down who we’d hope to see good crowds for as that will bring in important revenue for the club and we’ve also got local sides from communities around Braintree like Stanway, Heybridge Swifts and Long Melford.

“And then there are a couple against sides in similar-placed leagues like Ebbsfleet.

“They play a level below us but anyone who knows anything about non-league football will know what type of club they are so it will be a challenge and is fitting that it is the final one before the league programme begins.”

PRE-SEASON FIXTURES: Friday, July 10 (7.45pm): Braintree Town v Leyton Orient; Saturday, July 11 (3pm): Long Melford v Braintree Town; Monday, July 13 (7.45pm): Braintree Townv Millwall XI; Friday, July 17 (7.45pm): Braintree Town v Southend United; Saturday, July 18 (3pm): Stanway Rovers v Braintree Town XI; Monday, July 20 (7.45pm): Heybridge Swifts v Braintree Town XI; Tuesday, July 21 (7.45pm): Braintree Townv Reading XI; Friday, July 24 (7.45pm): Bury Town v Braintree Town; Saturday, July 25 (3pm): Lowestoft Town v Braintree Town; Tuesday, July 28 (7.45pm): Braintree Town v Dagenham & Redbridge; Saturday, August 1 (3pm): Ebbsfleet United v Braintree Town.