PROMOTION may be the ultimate aim, but Crosfields head coach Jimmy Williams says he is more concerned with “building a future” for the club.

Williams, a former Soap half-back during his playing days, has taken over from Mark Brennan at Hood Lane in what will be his first head coaching position.

He believes the majority of the players at his disposal have the club at heart and he is prepared to reward their loyalty.

However, he has warned his players that nobody’s spot in the team is safe and that the first and second teams will be more closely aligned in 2018.

“This year, we’ve got a lot of 18-19 year old lads that are starting to push through,” he said.

“The likes of Jack Roper, Jordan Williams and Brad Stanway have all come back from Warrington Wolves. They are really enthusiastic, but we’ve got a pretty similar core.

“The young lads have had a year now of playing open age, which is what you need to find out what the level is all about.

“They are all Crosfields lads and they are keen to do well.

“I don’t want to be ringing round and getting players from here, there and everywhere just to get us up.

“I don’t want a quick fix, I want to build a future for Crosfields.

“I’ll do sessions with the under 18s and younger teams if they want me to as I want to build a culture at the club of bringing homegrown lads through.

“The first and second teams train together and no-one is set in stone to play for either team.

“As much as I want to get promoted this year, myself, Tony Parker (club secretary) and Mike Donnison (chairman) are more focused on bringing these juniors through as they’ll be here for 10 years plus.

“We just want good lads around the club, and that’s what they’ve got this year.”

Having been promoted from National Conference League Division Three in 2016, Soap just missed out on the Division Two play-offs last season having topped the table for long spells.

They kick off their 2018 league campaign at Hunslet Warriors on Saturday, kick off 2.30pm.

Having watched the team in 2017, Williams knows what cost the Hood Lane outfit a shot at a second successive promotion.

“We got off to a good start, but we lost a few games and it became a bit of a habit. We got stuck in a rut,” he said.

“We’re very confident in our abilities at Crosfields and I think we get frustrated with ourselves if things don’t go to plan.

“We have to learn to draw a line under it and go again in the next game.

“At the back end, we picked up again and I think we would have ended up third with a couple more wins.

“A lot of it boils down to having a consistent squad available week in, week out. That’s the same throughout the amateur game.

“Any team that does well has pretty much the same 17 out every week. That really does make all the difference.”

While this may be his first head coaching position, Williams is well-versed in life on the sidelines having been assistant to Steve Pickersgill when he was in charge at Hood Lane.

The roles are now reversed, with Pickersgill now assisting Williams, and the Soap boss is confident in his ability to succeed.

“It is a learning curve, but I’ve been around the job and I know what works and what doesn’t,” he said.

“I’m confident in what I’m bringing for the lads, otherwise I wouldn’t have put myself in this position.

“I watched a lot of the games last year and there’s areas in which I think I can make a difference.

“I’ve passed that over to the lads and now it’s down to them to be committed.

“We feel promotion is realistic. We’ve got everything in place.”