McCall prepares for a 'dogfight'

McCall told Times Sport he expects Championship 1 to be even tougher than last year but said he is confident his young squad has what it takes to better last season's excellent top six finish.

Ballymoney start the season this Saturday with a trip to Ards and McCall has urged his fledgling team to hit the ground running.

"Pre-season has gone quite well," he said.

"We lost our first game against Coleraine but we have won all the rest since so I'm pleased enough.

"It can be hard to gauge pre-season results but I am confident we are ready for Saturday and I'm looking forward to it."

McCall has bolstered his squad, bringing in a number of new faces including Matt McGraw, Chris Getty and Randal Reid.

United have also been buoyed by the news Gareth Hill will remain as captain having announced he was stepping down from Championship football at the end of last season. Liam Kearney is also back in first team contention.

But United will be without Denver Gage, Chris Wilkinson and Robert Ritchie this time around, the trio having departed at the end of the season.

"I'm pleased enough with the squad to be honest," said McCall.

"I think we are stronger than last year and I'm delighted we have hung on to Gareth Hill.

"The squad this year is very young though I wouldn't say inexperienced as some of them have played senior football and others have come through the ranks at the club.

"We have a lot of pace all over the pitch with the young legs in the team.

"Sometimes with youth comes a wee bit of inconsistency so the plan is to be more consistent this season.

"We want to have a lot less of those kind of days.

"I'm not scared to put young ones in if they are good enough. On any given day I would put any of them in the team, which is a good sign."

He added: "The top six finish last season was excellent. You always want to improve so if we could better that it would be fantastic but it will be a big ask.

"Institute, Harland and Wolff Welders and Dergview are in Championship 1 this time around and it will be a tough league.

"I think it will be a lot tighter than last year, right through the league.

"It will be very, very competitive - a dogfight all year long - and there will be no easy games.

"If we can improve on last year I will be happy with that."

United were in devastating form on Saturday, thumping Ballycastle United 8-0 before the game was blown up early.

They round-off their pre-season fixtures with a game against a University of Ulster side at Ballymoney Showgrounds tonight (Tuesday) with kick off at 7.30pm.