When Braintree Town report for pre-season training in a couple of week's time there is likely to be a strong Maldon Town element included in the new faces.

It appears that Iron manager Ben Embery has been back to his previous club to recruit some of his former proteges and several are said to be interested in the possibility of sampling Ryman League football at Division One level.

These moves were inevitable and came as no surprise to the Maldon club once Embery had accepted the invitation to take over at Cressing Road towards the end of last season.

Best known of the newcomers are striker Tommy Noble and midfielder Danny Stanley for whom Iron will be paying small transfer fees and they are likely to be joined by two or three others.

Thus Braintree's new look squad is beginning to take shape and the announcement that key midfield men skipper Nicky Smith and Mark Adams have both signed new contracts is also good news for the club.

With experienced front men Robbie Reinelt and Leon Gutzmore already signed on, the omens are encouraging for Braintree fans.

It is expected that most of those players who finished last season at Cressing Road will again be available so a good pool of players should be at Embery's disposal with which to make a strong bid for promotion to the Premier Division.

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