Chester-le-Street manager Grant Crookes says that the club is rebuilding – but is still hoping to finish better than last season.

Crookes took over in May after previous boss Stuart Sherwood retired, and since then he has adopted something of a youth policy, using several of the club’s youngsters in pre-season friendlies.

“Pre-season has gone quite well, and we’ve had some very good performances,” he said.

“We’ve used quite a few youngsters, which means in some respects we haven’t got much experience and we’re not the tallest. But there’s plenty of ability, enthusiasm and fitness in the side, and there’s still the experienced players like Robbie Draper and Luke Gilhespy in the team. All of them are 100 per cent hard grafters.

“Even though we’re rebuilding, our aim is to finish better than eighth in the table.”