Richard Brady reckons Leatherhead could have been preparing for a Ryman Premier League play-off semi-final if Tom Bradbrook had stayed at Fetcham Grove.

Brady finds himself in the enviable position of having most of next season’s squad already tied down after Richard Avery and Stacy Long added themselves to those wanting to commit to another campaign.

However, the manager is not resting on his laurels and he has targeted positions that need strengthening, including a striker.

He said: “We need to improve centrally. We missed Tom Bradbrook last season – a blind person could tell you that.

“If we’d had Tom we would not have finished 10th, and that’s not me saying Tom is a superstar or because he’s a good mate of mine, it’s more that he would have dovetailed with the system we play.

“So we need a centre-forward, and we have one targeted and he is happy to come in.”

He added: “We need a little more strength in depth across defence and midfield.

“I’m not picking on a particular position, but we need more quality in depth so if we lose a midfielder or a centre half, we aren’t affected by it.

“We did not have that this year, and it cost us.”

During last summer, and despite promotion to the Ryman Premier Division, Brady lost a large swathe of his squad.

This time round, however, the picture is very different.

“No one has said they want to leave, all those Dear John phone calls came last year. The majority of players we have, in contrast to last year, want to stay,” Brady added.

“It all bodes well. Last season I started with two or three players who were never going to be in the team, but I had to use them because of the situation we were in.

“This year in pre-season we’ll come together, players will know each other and there will be competition – it’s nice.”