Dergview aren't planning to be "lambs to the slaughter" against Portadown on opening day says boss Tommy Canning

Niall Currie has recruited superbly this summer, adding Premiership-level quality to his squad with Gary Thompson, Ross Redman, Dougie Wilson, Ryan Mayse, Dale Montgomery, Caolin Coyle, Eamon Ffye and most recently Eoin Bradley all arriving at Shamrock Park from top-flight clubs as they look to bounce back at the first attempt.

Canning has had to undertake a rebuild of his own after losing last season’s top goalscorer Mikhail Kennedy to Crusaders, Bobby Deane and Oran Brogan moved onto Glenavon and Loughgall respectively while Stephen Doherty left for Finn Harps.

The Darragh Park side finished sixth in Canning’s first season in charge before dropping to 10th last term and face a tough opening set of fixtures with their Ports opener followed by trips to Ballinamallard United and H&W Welders.

"We'll be up for the challenge,” he said. “There's no doubts that we'll be up for it in terms of our mentality and physically we'll be ready.

"You can't be naive either and you look at Portadown's squad and what they had before they added Skinner (Bradley) - they have Paul McElroy, Ryan Mayse, Gary Thompson, Chrissy Rodgers, Ross Redman, Eamon Fyfe.

"Then they've Niall and his pedigree and the Championships he has won.

"We're not going into it to be lambs to the slaughter. We'll be looking to take points off Portadown there is no doubt and Niall wouldn't expect anything less.

"The reality is that Portadown have a Premiership team in the Championship. We'll relish that and Dergview is the type of club that enjoys that occasion so we're looking forward to Saturday."

Dergview started last term by picking up only one point from their first nine matches, which Canning puts partly down to a disjointed pre-season, but with preparations going much more smoothly ahead of this campaign, he says it’s vital they get off to a quick start in what is expected to be a competitive Championship.

"It's absolutely vital that we get points on the board as quickly as we can,” he added. “The difficulty is that the fixture computer didn't do us any favours!

"It isn't going to be easy because I think Portadown and Welders are the two that will be challenging for the league this year with a couple of others on their tails.

"It's important to get points on the board early and that we make a good show for ourselves against Portadown on the opening day.

"We'll approach it (the season) in the same way as we have before in that we'll have shorter term targets and a long-term target. That will change and move as the season progresses.

"We'll try to get through the first round of 11 fixtures and see where we're sitting.

"Last season was difficult for us and the season before we finished in the top-half and that's where we want to be. That's where we see ourselves and the club needing to be.

"If we can get there, which won't be easy because you have Portadown, Welders, Bangor are going to be good, Ballyclare, Ards, Ballinamallard, Annagh - it won't be easy to break into that but that's the challenge we'll set ourselves.”