Braintree Town manager Jamie Day says the early part of his team’s pre-season fixture list will see players gelling as partnerships are built all over the pitch.

The Iron boss has had to reconstruct the Braintree squad since taking over as manager, but his summer has been productive and he has brought in some eye-catching signings.

However, he knows a new group will need time to gel together as they get used to playing alongside each other as well as picking up tactical aspects of what Day and his coaching staff are trying to get them to do.

So the manager won’t be expecting the finished article when they head to Ryman League division north side Heybridge Swifts for their opening game of pre-season tomorrow.

Day said: “We’ve tried to be fair with them in the sessions we’ve done with them and give them rest when needed and work them hard when needed. We’re looking forward to getting games now, but the early ones will be about the boys getting to know each other.

“We’ll be doing a bit on our shape like when we have the ball and when we don’t have the ball, but it’s a new experience for them all and we have a lot of games in pre-season so we’ll be building up as we go through it.

“I don’t think you can read too much into pre-season; we only won one game at Forest Green last year and then went 10 unbeaten at the start of the season.

“So we’ll take on board what we are seeing on Saturday, but it’s going to be about getting fitness out of it and then looking at our shape more as we go along.”

Braintree’s next game after Saturday’s at Heybridge will be a trip to Bury Town on Tuesday.