BOSS Mark Yates is preparing for two matches' worth of 'running around and hard work' as his squad prepare to travel to local sides Rushall Olympic and Bewdley Town.

The men from Aggborough make the trip to Rushall tomorrow (3:00pm kick-off) before going to nearby Bewdley on Sunday for a 2:00pm start.

Fans are eager to get their first glimpses of how the new squad is shaping up, whilst the players will finally be able to get some minutes under the belt with these initial warm-up clashes.

"The players are looking forward to their first games and I'm sure there will be a bit of rustiness out there but this is all part of a pre-season programme where we're focusing on fitness and a number of things," Yates told harriers.co.uk.

"We've had a tough week and the plan as long as we don't get any silly injuries or knocks is to get each of the lads 45 minutes in each of the games.

"This gives a chance for the new players to get a look at their team mates and vice-versa.

"This weekend and perhaps next weekend in particular won't be about team play as much as it will be about running around, working hard and passing the ball well, and the players getting used to one another.

"The further we go into pre-season the more we'll look at doing certain things in certain games and setting ourselves up for the new season."

Amongst the ranks are a small group of trialists who will finally be able to strut their stuff in a match environment after a week and a half of intense training.

"We've got a few in at the moment and we'll see how we go but obviously we'll be looking to narrow it down after the weekend," added the Harriers' boss.

"They've been training hard with us for ten days now and it's only right that we take a look at them in what will be a fairly competitive match environment."

After taking part in the first game on Rushall's lush-looking Danes Lane surface tomorrow, Harriers head just a few miles away from Aggborough to officially open Bewdley's newly-constructed stand.
"It's nice to be going down to help out a local side," said Yates.

"They try and do things properly like ourselves, obviously at a lower level. "They try to run a football club the right way.

"They had a bit of trouble there last season with the pitch and the ground and hopefully on Sunday they'll get a decent turnout of support and maybe we can help raise them a bit of extra money."