HEYBRIDGE Swifts boss Jody Brown is already looking forward to pre-season.

The Ryman League side have now completed their summer schedule of friendlies, with nine matches organised ahead of the new division north campaign on August 13.

Swifts visit Brantham Athletic on July 5 before home games against Chelmsford City on July 7, Braintree Town on July 9 and Colchester United's under-21s on July 14.

They then have four away matches, at Cornard United on July 19, Burnham Ramblers on July 23, Barking on July 30 and Wivenhoe Town on August 2, before finishing with another home match against AFC Sudbury on August 6.

“I’m exciting because it’s been a while since I’ve had a pre-season," said Brown.

“The last few times I’ve joined clubs has been in mid-season.

“A lot of managers say they hate pre-season but I really enjoy it.

“It’s the one time of the year you work with your players intensely without the pressure of points.

“There’s a real focus on development and five or six weeks when you can really concentrate on improving as a group.

“From my point of view, I can get on with coaching, rather than having to keep thinking about getting three points on Saturday and then three points on Tuesday.

“I’ve always found it the best time of year, when you can make massive strides.

“If you get your pre-season right, you can get off to a good start."

Swifts stayed up on the final day of last season, avoiding relegation courtesy of a vital victory against Phoenix Sports.

However, hopes are high that the club can have a much better 2016/17 campaign.

A host of players have been retained while Brown has pulled off the marquee signing of former Colchester United skipper Karl Duguid.

Now the Swifts boss is looking forward to getting his squad back together, to start laying foundations for the new Ryman League season.

“I don’t believe in endless fitness work," he said.

“If you’re doing the right football-specific training, you still get the same results fitness wise.

“It’s just a great time to coach, to get your playing philosophy across and to build the sense of togetherness, organisation and understanding.

“It’s the one time when there’s no pressure and the results in your friendlies don’t mean anything, as long as you’re getting out of those games what you want to get out of them.

“We’ll have targets and objectives from the friendlies and things we want to achieve, like working on our defensive shape and pressing without the ball.

“When there are points at stake, you can sometimes lose sight of what you’re trying to do.

“The result becomes paramount and the process secondary.

“But in pre-season, you’re laying foundations that will hopefully last for 46 games.”