WARRINGTON Town are ready to “take the next step” on their journey to their goal of reaching the Football League, chairman Toby Macormac says.

In what was their first ever Evo-Stik Premier Division campaign last term, Yellows finished 10th after a season of overhaul both on and off the pitch.

Co-managers Stuart Mellish and Lee Smith parted company with the club in October to be replaced by current manager Paul Carden, who made several changes to the squad.

Carden begins his first full season in charge of the club on Saturday when Yellows welcome Rushall Olympic to Cantilever Park, kick off 3pm.

This is quickly followed by a trip north to face newly-promoted Lancaster City on Tuesday, kick off 7.45pm.

Macormac admits his aim of reaching the Football League by 2020 is getting trickier by the year.

However, he insists the club is in much better shape than it was ahead of last season.

“I think we’re ready now to make that next step,” he said.

“When we made the change of management 15 games into last season, I felt we had nothing to lose.

“It just shows that, despite winning the division below by 16 points, our squad wasn’t ready for the Premier Division.

“This squad we’ve put together certainly is and there’s players in there that can do a job at the next level, without a doubt.

“I often beat the drum of how many people live in this town. With the population we have here, it’s crying out for a Football League club, or at the very least a Conference National club.

“The biggest challenge is that non-league is that it’s changing by the season financially.

“Money is filtering down, there are million-pound budgets in the Conference National now and that’s bigger than a lot of Football League clubs.

“It’s going to get more difficult but we’ll keep plugging away. All the ingredients are in place to really make something of it here.”

Carden has made 11 new signings this summer as he plans his first full season in charge at Cantilever Park.

Of the team that won promotion from the Evo-Stik First Division North in 2015-16, only skipper Jay McCarten and midfielder Ged Kinsella remain.

Macormac says he is impressed with the players Carden has brought to the club.

“You could say we’ve left it late, but I think it proves you can get some great players in even right at the last minute,” he said.

“We’ve definitely built a squad that will be competitive, these players have been worth waiting for.

“Training is more technical and Paul wants the best from everyone here, from top to bottom.

“When you compare this pre-season to last one, we are in a far better position.

“I remember going to Hyde in our final pre-season game last year, we had six or seven trialists playing and some lads hadn’t played 90 minutes.

“We’ve built it up this year and everyone got 90 minutes in a training game last week.

“The way he’s organised and structured pre-season has been different class.”