Football Season Guide

Southport will be able to play in the top level of non-league football for another season despite finishing in the bottom four last year as they benefited from the demise of Rushden & Diamonds. It may not be the way Liam Watson wanted things to develop but he will be delighted to be given another whip of the crack and will hungrier than ever to demonstrate that his side is good enough to stay on. It was a dramatic ending of last season when Southport needed a point to finish above the bottom four but lost 3:1 at Kettering and for weeks seems to have accepted their fate but then the Diamonds' scenario changed the whole atmosphere around the club. Watson has been eager to strengthen the defensive department and the arrivals of Simon Grand and James Smith are shrewd pieces of business. The other big plus is that John Paul Kissock will stay on for another season and his impact on the squad will be again huge if he manages to stay fit. The biggest worry is that the forward line is very thin on the ground with just a week left and Watson has been unable to bring the sort of the striker he has been looking for despite fielding a number of trialists in the close season. The positive for Southport is that they had one year of experience in the league and will be better placed to stay up but it will be another major struggle and a long relegation battle beckons for the Merseyside outfit, no matter what. Again fine margins will determined the Sandgrounders' fate but the boss will hope that the players display character and enough ability to be able to stay up.