Braintree Town chairman Lee Harding is confident that the club is in a position to assemble a strong squad for next season despite a number of departures of members of last year’s successful team.

Harding knows it has been a blow to see the likes of Kenny Davis and Matt Paine move to rivals clubs after offers that the Iron were unable to match.

However, he feels new manager Jamie Day is in a strong position and has the contacts needed to assemble an Iron squad capable of pushing on from the work done by former manager Danny Cowley last year.

“Jamie knows just as many people as Danny Cowley does,” said the Braintree chairman.

“He was very influential in putting together a squad at Forest Green Rovers last year that got them to second in the league so he has a wealth of experience and contacts.

“Ady Pennock made some very nice comments about Jamie in the press last weekend and it’s no secret that he came very close to getting the job 12 months ago.

“I’m very pleased indeed with the job he’s doing and the amount of effort he is putting in with all the players who he is speaking to.

“He gives me full analysis of what he feels they are worth and he is treating our money as if it was his own.

“We have never pretended to be something we’re not at Braintree.

“It wasn’t just down to Danny Cowley that we got to third in the league last year - he was just one man at the club.

“There is a stability there behind the scenes that allowed him to build and that’s still there behind Jamie.

“We were strong before Danny came and we’re in a strong position now.

“We may need to draw breath, but we hope Jamie Day is with us for a slightly longer term as we build towards the new ground. We won’t be doing anything silly as that’s not our way, but when it comes we’ll be in a position to push on and maybe then have a top-third playing budget.”