Ottery St Mary boss Dave Fairweather is most upbeat about the forthcoming Macro Devon and Exeter League season.

Fairweather, who took over after the start of last season, will lead the Otters into a Division Four campaign with a side not too dissimilar to the one he ran toward the end of last season.

Matt Daly has once again been appointed club captain and Chris Ambrose is his number two.

Fairweather says: “Appointing Matt and Chris was a no brainer in as much as they both know what I want us to be doing this coming season.

“For me a most important trait in a player is attitude and, in Matt and Chrism, we have two players with the perfect attitude and I am hoping that rubs off on others.”

Once again this coming season Fairweather will give youth a chance with a number if new 16 year-olds having come through the impressive Ottery youth section.

One of those youngsters, Kyle Hartnoll, scored the only goal the Otters netted in a 5-1 pre-season match defeat at North Tawton last weekend.

Fairweather says: “We only had a bare 11, but I was not going to cry off. We went with two lads playing at centre back who have never played there and I saw some good things in the match. I am not too concerned with scores at this stage of the season. It’s much more a case of players finding their match fitness and making sure their touch is sharp.”

Off the pitch things are relay moving at the club with a new chairman recently appointed and plenty of work taking place to refit and upgrade the kitchen and overhaul the clubhouse.

The new man in charge of the committee is Mike Ringer. Fairweather says: “He (Ringer) is a breath of fresh air. He’s no stranger to football clubs and indeed has been in charge of bigger clubs than ours. He lives locally and I feel very confident about things moving forward under his stewardship.”

New players are always made very welcome at Ottery and the training sessions are held at the club each Tuesday from 7pm.

On the pitch the Otters have warm-up matches planned for each of the next three Saturday’s

This Saturday (July 30) the Washbrook Meadow faithful get their first glimpse of the Otters when they entertain Ilminster Town Reserves (2pm). The following Saturday it’s Newton Poppleford Reserves who provide the opposition before Sidmouth III pay a visit.

There’s also one more away warm-up game with a trip to Winkleigh Reserves.

One area that Fairweather does want to see improved is in the department of sponsorship. He says: “I really do want us to carry a more professional look about the things we do and, towards that end, I’d like to see players wearing tracksuits on match days and have matching training gear. That does not have to be a pipe dream and hopefully there will be local companies who will step forward and help us. We also have ground board and match day sponsorship opportunities and I do hope the local business community will engage with us as I know we have something to offer in return with regard to profile.”

Anyone who would like to get involved with the club can contact Fairweather on 07791 774706.