NEWQUAY boss Shaun Middleton feels his side are ‘in a good place’ as they get their Western League Premier Division campaign underway on Saturday at much-fancied Clevedon Town (3pm).

The Peppermints’ inaugural season at Step Five saw them narrowly miss out on the play-offs to Sidmouth Town, but have since continued that momentum with four new signings and positive pre-season results, which concluded with Louis Price’s brace in a 2-0 victory over Barnstaple Town on Saturday.

Middleton said: “As coaches we went away and came up with a framework of how we want to play, and went after the players we wanted, all of which bar one we’ve managed to bring in. I’m happy with the business we’ve done, the way they’ve fitted into the squad, and also how we’ve trained and played in our pre-season games.

“After losing our first one, we’ve only conceded once in the last four games which we’ve won, and although we’ve picked up a few injuries which is never ideal, we’re in a good place.”

Middleton has raided Mousehole for defender Jacob Kevern and attacker Tim Nixon, while goalkeeper Shaun Semmens has joined his hometown club from Bideford, and midfielder Connor Paine has arrived from Helston Athletic.

He said: “I’m delighted with the four signings we’ve made, three of which have stepped down from the Southern League and another in Connor who was attracting plenty of interest from clubs in that league.

“On the departures front, Lucas Potts has joined Penzance and Harry Richards is off to America on a football scholarship. We wish both players all the best and thank them for their efforts.”

Newquay drew in the largest crowds in the division last term, and Middleton hopes they will be in the mix again.

He said: “We had a really good opportunity to make it into the play-offs last year, but in the clutch moments didn’t take our opportunities. Having said that, to finish sixth in our first-ever season in that league is a really good effort and one we have to be proud of.

“As for this season, we’re hoping to push on, but we’re under no illusions with the teams that have come up and come down, it’s 100% going to be a much tougher league.

“But I feel we have a stronger, fitter and more ambitious squad this year, so we’ll see how we get on. We also want to go deep in as many competitions as we can. We let ourselves down last year in the Cornwall Senior Cup at Camelford, so hopefully we can push for silverware in one of those cups.”

Middleton is also hoping to excite the Mount Wise faithful, adding: “We’ve been working on some different systems and making sure the players are that bit braver on the ball. At times last year we didn’t take that option when we should have, we were also a bit loose, so hopefully we tighten things up a bit.”

Newquay head to North Somerset to face a side that have lost in the play-offs in consecutive seasons.

Middleton concluded: “Clevedon and Portishead are probably the two favourites for the league, so we know it’ll be an extremely tough game. But we’ll go up there with nothing to lose. I’m sure they’ll know it’ll be a challenge, so hopefully we can upset the odds.”