THE wait is over for Chelmsford City’s fans as they look forward to this Saturday’s opening Blue Square Bet South fixture at home to Truro City.

The kick-off is at 3pm, at Melbourne Park, and manager Glenn Pennyfather believes he has assembled his strongest ever squad in a bid for promotion to the Blue Square Premier at the fourth time of asking.

The Clarets boss added the finishing touches to his side midweek, with the signing of former Chelsea goalkeeper Stuart Searle, fellow custodian Joe Woolley from Thurrock and ex-Harrow Borough wide man Warren Whitely.

They joined in time to be considered for selection against the Cornishmen, who make the long journey across the country for their Conference South debut after promotion from the Southern League last year.

Pennyfather said: “I look around the dressing room at the moment and love having so much talent at my disposal.

“We had some talented players at the club last year, but I think we have improved on those over the summer. There are some young lads who are eager to get back into professional football and the only way they can do that is if they do well for Chelmsford City first.”

City’s final two warm-up games resulted in victories, firstly at Harlow Town as Max Cornhill scored twice in a 4-1 win. Then, on Saturday, Blue Square Bet North outfit Nuneaton Town were put to the sword, 2-0, in a game Chelmsford dominated, with Cornhill and David Rainford getting the goals.

Pre-season results have largely gone his team’s way, and now Pennyfather wants that winning habit to continue against Truro and at Staines Town on Tuesday night.

He said: “Nuneaton reached their play-off final last year and were very unlucky not to beat Telford, so it was a good test for us. I like a difficult game prior to us starting to play league games as they’re like what you’ll be up against the following week.

“I was interested, as you always want to see how sides shape-up in a league that runs parallel with yours, and we’ve done well. Now we’re ready and raring to go!”

Aside from match action, while Pennyfather prepares his revised squad on the pitch, Chelmsford City FC Supporters Club is making its own efforts to back them from the terraces as Operation Let There Be Light gets underway to raise cash for new training floodlights, while a website has also been launched to support various schemes.

The need to upgrade the club’s training facilities has been apparent for some time, but with money extremely scarce and the board already contributing a great deal, the Supporters Club has called for the help of fans to assist with this scheme and try to provide top class provision before the darkness of the winter creeps in.

The floodlights will be portable and can be retained as a real asset for years to come.