Callum Ainley scored his first goal of pre-season in the 5-1 win over Ashton United and that is certainly an area of improvement the attacking midfielder is seeking.

Ainley endured an injury hit season last time out after suffering a Grade 3 hamstring strain at Cheltenham Town in the FA Cup – but he successfully came back to finish the season in form.

The 23-year-old recently signed a new two-year deal with the club and manager David Artell believes that the talented Academy graduate is determined to make up for lost time this coming season.

Ainley told the club’s official website: “Callum has had a really unfortunate couple of years. He played a big part in our promotion season but probably didn’t start as many games as he would have liked.

“The pandemic ended that season when he could have been a bigger part towards the end of the season and then when he was hitting some real form last season, he suffered the injury.

“He managed to get back and was playing well again. He was one who certainly didn’t want the season to end.

He added: “Now it is up to him and up to us as coaches, to make sure he has his most effective season yet. We need him to score goals and add assists. That is what he will get in the team for and we all know that is more capable of doing that. He just has to do it on a more consistent basis.”