Fleetwood Town’s summer signing, Stewart Murdoch, says Graham Alexander’s team selection to face Dagenham & Redbridge will be difficult.
Saturday’s Sky Bet League 2 opener at Highbury follows the manager’s first pre-season in charge of the Cod Army, where he has recruited nine new players for the club so far.
And Murdoch, an Alexander signing from Scottish side Falkirk, believes his new boss will be given a dilemma when deciding upon his starting eleven for the Daggers’ visit.
“Everybody is going to make it difficult for Graham (Alexander) to pick the team that starts on Saturday,” said Murdoch.
“The manager has had a really good chance to look at all of his signings, and all of the players from last year, throughout pre-season.
“And there’s such a good group of boys here which means you’ll see that, for the ones that aren’t selected, they will continue to stay positive.”
Murdoch will be competing in English football for the first time in his career, having spent his early years playing in the Scottish leagues.
And the 23-year-old admits he already feels more than comfortable amongst his new Town teammates following pre-season.
“Things have gone really well,” he said. “It’s been a tough pre-season, but most pre-seasons are nowadays.
“I’m really enjoying being at a new place, experiencing new things and meeting new people. We’re all looking forward to getting going now.
“We’ve had a really good four weeks of training sessions, and now things are geared towards the game (against Dagenham) at the weekend.
“This week has been based upon getting that match sharpness back, and it’s starting to come. I’m happy with the fitness level I’m at now, and I think my performances will pick up as the games go by.”
The club held an open training session at Highbury on Tuesday which meant training on pitch’s newly-grown grass. Murdoch believes the slick surface will allow for attractive football next season.
“When the pitch is like this there are no excuses. You’ve got to come and play and that’s the way the manager is trying to get us to play – trying to play attractive attacking football,” he added.
“Everybody’s delighted to see the stadium like this. I came down close season when it was all being done, so to see it looking like a bowling green is brilliant.”