Hayes & Yeading United manager Tristan Lewis has revealed that he is still looking to strengthen his side ahead of the start of the Conference South season.

United were beaten 4-0 by Ryman Premier League side Grays Athletic in a pre-season friendly at the weekend.

That performance helped make Lewis’ mind up over a few players and the boss confirmed he is still looking to freshen things up ahead of the big kick-off in three weeks’ time.

He said: “We know that there are four areas that we want to strengthen.

“I had a discussion with [Chairman] Tony [O’Driscoll] the other day and we’re ahead of where we were at this stage last year.

“But if I’m honest, we probably thought that we were a little bit ahead of where we actually are.”

The former Reading coach has shown faith with the members of his squad who kept the club in the Conference South last season but admitted that changes are a necessity before the season begins on August 8th.

He added: “I said to lads that trust takes a long time to build, but is quick to lose.

Creative: Christian Smith

“Maybe we were thinking our group is our group. But there needs to be a few new faces. I’ve turned a few players away as I wanted to be loyal to some players, but we just can’t do that.”

United have already brought in the likes of former Charlton, AFC Wimbledon & Shrewsbury defender, Yado Mambo to sure up the defence

Christian Smith, who has Football League experience from his days at York City and Port Vale, has been retained to add presence and flair to the midfield.

Despite flashes of creativity, Lewis suggested that his side will set up to contain the opposition.

He concluded: “I wanted us to be better than we were last year.

“At the end of last year we set ourselves out to stop teams, so we wanted to try and be a little more progressive, but we’re not ready for that.

“I’ve looked at systems that would allow us to go out and win games. But the budget’s not big enough to allow us to bring in players that are good enough to do that.

“We’re going to have to be similar to how we were last season. It’s not always pretty but we want to compete. So it’s onwards and upwards.”