By Andrew Warshaw

With our first pre-season friendly taking place at Haringey Borough on Saturday, Billy Holland’s recruitment drive is in full flow as he plots a course ahead of Town’s return to Step 3.

With only three of last season’s playing staff remaining — skipper Mickey Parcell, evergreen record appearance maker Sam Youngs and Billy Leonard – our new manager gets a chance to watch his emerging squad in a match situation for the first time, some of whom have followed him from Waltham Abbey.

Arguably the most eye-catching acquisition among the new recruits is leftback Junior Moses, signed from Cockfosters down the road and one of the standout players in their recent FA Vase final at Wembley.

Only 19, Junior’s performance caught the eye of several clubs higher up the non-league pyramid but Town managed to get a deal over the line.

A former trialist with AC Milan, Junior posted 19 goal involvements from left-back last season and also impressed when Cockfosters upset Town in the London Senior Cup.

“Junior is a real modern full back – high energy levels, and his attacking mindset really matches up with how we are trying to,” said Billy.

Junior was so keen to join Town that he apparently turned down the offer of a contract at a Step 2 club. “I knew he was way better than Step 5 but it was difficult because after the Vase a lot of clubs came in for him,” Billy explained.

“He asked whether I could match this and match that and although the answer was no, I told him that what I could do is put him in the shop window, use his strengths and improve his weaknesses. Plus the style of football we want to play.”

Among his former players, Billy has brought in attacking midfielder Amrit Bansal-McNulty, a product of Queens Park Rangers’ academy who gets fans off their seats and last season earned a spot in the Isthmian North Team of the Year.

While Billy has been unable to persuade more than three of last season’s National League South squad to remain, he is focussing on the positive.

“To be honest I’m happy with the three I’ve got. People need to realise  that when a club goes down from a higher division, the budgets are not going to be the same. Players think they belong at a certain level so they are all going to be looking for similar money regardless of whether a club is relegated under their watch. It’s so good to have Mickey and Sam with us and see how positive they are.”

Gavin Macpherson’s successor at the Dave Bryant stadium doesn’t seem at all fazed by the fact that some of the new recruits have had limited success at Step 3.  Or that clubs at the same level as Town have outbid him numerous times for prospective additions to the new-look squad.

“Enfield Town has got a big name with great fans but I don’t mind players going elsewhere for more money. Some of these clubs will offer players the world in pre-season, then have to let them go.  I’m not going to offer players something I can’t back up. What I will say is that we’ve been working very hard behind the scenes to bring in the kind of player who suits our style of football.”

Training started a couple of weeks ago ahead of the pre-season fixtures which come thick and fast before the new Isthmian Premier League campaign gets under way in August.

“The home friendlies may look like a tall order but they are deliberately designed to see how we do when we haven’t got the ball,” Billy explained. “When teams have more possession than us, how do we react? We are trying to drill into the boys that we are going to come up against big-name teams with big budgets and who will sometimes control games. It’s something I want the boys to get used to in pre-season.”

While the search for a number one goalkeeper could be decided by the time we play Orient next Friday, at the other end of the pitch Billy has brought in two strikers in George Nunn and Luke May-Parrott. “They can both drop in or play in behind so that helps with rotation,” said Billy. “I’m not one who just plays a no.9 who you play long to.”

It seems like a really early start at Haringey – promoted back to Step 4 at the end of last season — but, again, that’s a deliberate strategy. “We are embarking on a whole new system, a whole new way of playing,” said Billy. “I want all my players to understand quickly what I’m asking of them.”