TRANMERE Rovers go into their first game of National League football full of confidence.

Manager Gary Brabin is confident his squad has what it takes to beat Woking at Prenton Park, when the season kicks off on Saturday afternoon.

During a press conference at the club this afternoon, Brabin – who took over as manager in May, said: "I'd love to win on my first game. It’s going to be a long season, but we are going to get better and better.

"Hopefully we can start Saturday with the right result. We're glad to see the start of the season.

"I'm quite relaxed, have got a lot of faith in my group and looking forward to the game.

"I wanted to start by bringing in a winning mentality, with a lot of passion and certainly goals.

"The aim of the recruitment process over the summer was to bring in big game players. I believe we’ve done that. There are going to be some tough games ahead.”

On Saturday’s opponents, Brabin said: “Woking have been a tough side, but we want an opening win against them and we are expecting a tough test on Saturday.

“But I want to, first and foremost, concentrate on the game. If we do the right thing, we’ll be ready for anything.”

Praising the fans’ pre-season support, he continued: “I want the fans to come and start enjoying games; win, lose or draw. They have been really positive so far.

"History;s been made; we’ve fallen out of the league, but we’ve got to enjoy the here and now.

"This is the bottleneck of English football and it’s a really difficult league to get out of, but I’m confident we can do it.

"I was delighted with the early signings I made and we had a really good pre-season. The squad has gelled really well.”

"As the season progresses, I’m sure we will get stronger."

Brabin’s enthusiasm is shared by midfielder Steve Jennings, who said: "There’s been a cloud over the place in recent years, but it's a new beginning.

"It's a long season and we are still working hard on the training ground.

"The gaffer is trying to instill a high-energy group. We've got to hit the ground running on Saturday.

"Everyone's got to sing from the same hymn sheet come Saturday. We're in conference now and have to adjust to it, but we've got to keep playing the way we are."