HEREFORD United's club captain Ben Smith has expressed his pleasure at the way the new-look Bulls squad is coming together.

"We have had quite a bit of a change around since last season," said the former Yeovil man. "Some of the lads got released and a few others decided to move on so we needed to add a few new faces.

"I'm sure the gaffer will tell you it was all in hand but it seems to have taken a bit longer than maybe a lot of people were expecting.

"While we still need to add a few more, the squad is looking relatively strong."

Smith is not, however, going to be drawn into reckless promises about how the season is going to unfold.

"Every year you need to improve so we need to improve on last season," he said. "People go around making wild predictions about getting in the play-offs or doing this and that but that's a bit silly.

"If you keep improving every year then you are going in the right direction and eventually you will get to the play-offs, you will get promoted.

"We might do it this year, we might do it next year or it might be the year after but when you are not throwing around loads of money - some clubs in our league have a lot of money and they can buy some really top players and build their team like that - you have to do what we do and bring in players and develop them into a team.

"That takes time, you can't do that in five weeks of pre-season, it takes a year or two years. We just need a bit of continuity and I am sure that if we get that then the signs will be good for this club in the next few years.

"Teams like Yeovil have gone on but they did not go up in the first few years. It takes time to build up and I hope that people appreciate that."

Smith was delighted, however, at the improvement in the playing surface.

"I don't think people realise how much difference having a better pitch under our feet is going to make," he said.

"The pitch didn't look great last season but, from the stands, I don't think it looked as bad as it played.

"It was so bobbly and especially with the way that we want to play football, it is important to have a good pitch. This is really nice now so hopefully, at home, we can use that to our advantage and play the sort of football we want - football that is exciting and easy on the eye but which gets results as well."

There were no great surprises in his prediction of the teams who are likely to lead the way this season.

"Peterborough are certainly a team to look out for," said Smith.

"They have spent bundles of money and I am sure that if they do not get promoted then their chairman is not going to be happy.

"MK Dons are another team with good backing and with their budget they should have gone up last year. They will be up their again and I am sure that Paul Ince will be looking to take them up.

"The teams that come down are ones you always think will be in with a chance.

"I think it is going to be a really open league but I shall be very surprised if Peterborough and MK Dons are not vying for the promotion places."