KIDDERMINSTER boss John Eustace insists his players will not been set targets this season as they prepare for their league opener against Chorley.

The manager underlined that his approach won't change heading into his second campaign in the Aggborough hotseat and said no unnecessary pressure will be put on his players with talk of promotion challenges.

Harriers missed out on promotion last term with a play-off defeat against Saturday's rivals (3pm kick-off).

Eustace said: "It's not about setting ourselves the aim of promotion. The message will be the same as last season when we just aimed to be competitive in every game, progress as a group and see where that takes us.

"We have quite a few new faces in the squad compared to the team that finished last season so it's now up to them to take their opportunity.

"Everyone's attitude has been great but it's a long season and only time will tell if we have improved for the experience.

"It could take a few games for the players to gel but hopefully that will happen sooner rather than later.

"We have played some really competitive pre-season games but you can't really tell until the league games get underway."

Harriers have been boosted on the eve of the new campaign with the news that star man Elton Ngwatala has returned for another year.

The Frenchman needs little re-introduction to the Harriers fan base. Over the last 18 months or so he’s made close to 60 appearances for the club with his trademark style and flair, netting ten goals in the process.

At the end of last season he’d been widely tipped for a move into the Football League, but after staying in very close contact over the course of the summer the 24-year-old penned another one-year deal with the Reds.

Eustace added: "He did great for us last year and we're delighted he's returned.

"You could see from his performances last season that he was enjoying his football and his time here and we missed him at the end of the season.

"He had the chance to go to three other clubs so it's nice he chose to stay."

Meanwhile, Harriers have also bolstered their squad further by handing short-term deals to trialists Josh Webb and Junior Joachim ahead of the new campaign.

It means the boss has a fully fit squad to choose from this weekend except for long-term injury absence Lee Vaughan, who could still be out for three months after he broke his leg last season.