JAMES McQuilkin loved scoring goals for Kidderminster Harriers last season – and it’s whetted his appetite for more “back of the net” exploits this term, writes Chris Oldnall.

The determined 27 year old said: “I think as a midfielder you need to chip in with a few goals to help the forwards out sometimes, particularly if they’re going through a dry spell.

“The more goals I can get then obviously the happier I’ll be and the more it will help the team to get to where we want to be.”

McQuilkin, who was Harriers’ joint top scorer last season with six goals, added: “I’m not going to put a target on anything. I’m just going to go out and score as many as possible.”

And as far as he’s concerned the sooner he can open his account the better – but he knows it wont be easy.

“It’s a difficult league we all know that,” said McQuilkin, who’s convinced Harriers will make the most of their “fresh start” following last season’s bitterly disappointing relegation to the National League North.

He added: “Obviously, there’s a new set of lads here now, along with some from last season as well, and we’ve forgotten about what happened. We have to. We have to move on and be ready for the new season. It’s a fresh start for everybody.”

McQuilkin had no hesitation about signing a new contract during the summer so that he can be part of boss John Eustace’s bid to get the good times back to Aggborough.

He said: “I was happy to stay to be honest because I could see what was coming, particularly with the fresh start and a new manager who really wanted to keep me. That helped me along the way and I was pleased to sign as new deal.”

And now it’s down to the hard graft of helping Eustace mastermind a promotion challenge.

McQuilkin said: “The manager has been brilliant. We’re really pleased to be working with him. Hopefully we can do our best for him and get as many points on the board as possible.

“But you can’t just expect to win every game and for it to be easy. That’s not going to be the case. We’re going to come up against some really organised teams – and some really tough, physical sides – so we’ve got to be constantly on our game.

“But I don’t think we fear anybody. There are some strong teams in the league, but we can’t think about that, we’ve just got to think about ourselves. The way the manager has got us playing we could a good team this season and we’ll be doing our best to get where we want to be.”