Francis McCaffrey going into Premier Intermediate League campaign with aim of getting Warrenpoint Town “back to where it should be”

The Milltown outfit finished second in the Championship last season and were preparing for a Premiership play-off against Dungannon Swifts when it was announced they’d been denied the relevant licenses by the Irish FA.

Not only did Barry Gray’s side miss out on that potential top-flight return opportunity, but they were also demoted into the third-tier of Northern Irish football and kick their league campaign off against Moyola Park on Saturday.

There is a sense of expectation on Warrenpoint to immediately bounce back at the first attempt but captain McCaffrey isn’t taking anything for granted and says they must remain focused on a weekly basis to achieve their ultimate goal.

"We got that last year as well,” he said. “We found in the Championship that a few clubs turned up against us and maybe didn't turn up against other teams.

"When your club has a big name it's always going to be that way.

"I think the players who have stayed on from last year know what they're going to get and you have to go out and perform.

"It mightn't be the prettiest at times but we just need to work hard and hopefully we'll get to where we want to be.

"The likes of Limavady have a strong squad and they'll be up there as more favourites than us, but because we've dropped down we seem like the big boys.

"There are other big teams there and it's about taking each game as it comes.

"Hopefully when the league becomes a week in, week out thing we can push on and get as high as we can.

"We'd love to win the league and that's the ideal situation. There is expectation but you just have to deal with the pressure of it."

There has been heavy squad rotation at Warrenpoint with last season’s top-scorer Adam Carroll joining Newry City while the likes of James Carroll, Conor Mitchell, Kealan Dillon, Ryan Swan and Luke Wade-Slater also moved on.

Former Glentoran and Ballymena United midfielder McCaffrey admits the decision to relegate Warrenpoint was brutally difficult to accept but had no doubts about his own future, with the 30-year-old entering his sixth season at the club.

"It's brutal the way it happened,” he added. “I honestly think we had a good chance of beating Dungannon in that play-off.

"Annagh put up a good fight against them and if we had that opportunity I think we'd be in the Premiership now.

"It didn't pan out that way and it was very tough to take.

"Over the summer it has brought everyone together and with the younger players coming in there is a good feeling around the squad this year and everyone is buzzing.

"It was easy for me to stay. I really love the club. There are too many good people about to leave.

"It's more about getting the club back to where we feel we should be.

"I honestly think I could still play in the Premiership, Baller (Steven Ball), Jim O'Hanlon - there are players in our team who could have played in it.

"Everybody who has stuck around are in it for the club and are trying to get us back to where we should be."