Wealdstone manager Gordon Bartlett hopes constructing a smaller squad of greater quality will help the Stones into the top half next season.

The veteran Stones boss has already signed former Watford defender Eddie Oshodi, ex-Margate midfield pair David Hunt and Danny Green, Hayes & Yeading Player of the Season Elliot Benyon and experienced former Hemel Hempstead Town midfielder Ricky Wellard.

All five are proven in National League South and, in some cases, above. It is no coincidence according to Bartlett who says there has been a change in the club's recruitment strategy this summer.

"We've always tried to look at players at a lower level," he said. "Some it works with and some it doesn't – that's the nature of football.

"This year the guys we've brought in are proven at this level – but not at Wealdstone. I would still like to strengthen a little bit more before we start the season."

There has been a slight increase in budget – around ten per cent at this stage – to aid Wealdstone's search for players.

The Stones were presented with a cheque for £10,000 after winning the Non-League Challenge last season and, thanks to the success of the club's 100:400 scheme, Bartlett has been afforded marginally more manoeuvrability in the transfer market than usual.

For that reason the former Yeading, Hounslow and Southall boss is optimistic of an improvement on last season's 15th-place finish. It is an opinion he voiced at Sunday's meeting at Grosvenor Vale.

"We've had two awful starts and ended up in mid-table," said Bartlett. "Our number one aim is to have a decent start and that gives you a good opportunity for the rest of the season.

"I'm quietly confident we can achieve that. What happens after that in the middle and the end of the season I don't know. But I think we are more than capable of pushing into the top half."