Woking manager Michael Doyle is looking forward to his first full season at the Laithwaite Community Stadium.

Doyle was appointed by the Cards in December and successfully preserved the club’s National League status.

Woking will start their National League campaign with a trip to Altrincham on Saturday, August 10, and Doyle is expecting a tough test on the opening day.

“The most important thing is getting everybody through to Altrincham and the first game,” said Doyle.

“Altrincham were one of the best sides in the league last year so it will be a really tough game for us. We know what to expect – they're well organised, are a well-drilled team and they've got a certain way of playing. You have to be on your game against them, so we probably couldn't have had a harder start.

“There’s been a lot of change since I've come in. We've tried to go for a younger profile in players and players that have played a lot of games the past couple of years.

“With having a smaller squad we couldn't take a lot of risks on players because we need people that are going to hopefully be fit. That's the way we've gone but we feel we've added some really good young players.

“We feel if we can keep people fit we'll be a match for anybody in the league. I think when we're at full tilt we should be a match for a lot of teams. We want to be competitive this year and give a better account of ourselves than we did last year.

“It's no secret things have changed at the club dramatically and rightly so. I think the budget was quite strong last year and things have changed. I'm quite happy to work with it. If we get investment into the club that’s absolutely brilliant and it might let us strengthen a little bit more, but it is what it is. You just get on with it. There's no point complaining about it.

“We've tried to make the lads as fit as possible and with the recruitment we went after people that have played a lot of games. If we can get 30 to 40 games out of people we’ll feel we've achieved something.

“I’m looking forward to the first full season starting and putting my own stamp on the players. We've had a really strong pre-season and put a lot of work into the boys. Let's see where we go.”

The Cards finished in 17th place in the National League last season with 55 points, and Doyle is hoping to beat that points tally this season.

“There's no doubt about it the number one target is getting more points than we had last year and the sooner the better,” said Doyle.

“I think that's a big target for us. We don't want to be going down to the last game for the season so the big target for me is the points tally has got to be a lot better than it was last year. That's what we've got to target first and see where that takes us.”