PLENTY of people are writing off Eastleigh for a National League top-seven charge this season following the departure millionaire owner Stewart Donald to Sunderland – but team boss Andy Hessenthaler isn’t one of them.

Even before Donald left the building, the realisation had dawned that throwing money at promotion was no guarantee of success, with the Spitfires massively underachieving in 15th and 14th over the last two seasons.

The purse strings will be tighter this time round with ex-Gillingham manager Hessenthaler working with a smaller pool of players, but he still feels there is more than enough talent in the ranks to improve on last term's mediocre showing.

Former Saints midfielder Oscar Gobern heads a quartet of summer signings, joined by defenders Josh Hare and Alex Wynter, both from Maidstone United, and midfielder Joey Jones from Woking. They have also taken 19-year-old midfielder George Dowling on loan from Bristol City until January.

The Spitfires kick off the new campaign at home to ex-Saint Tim Flowers' Solihull Moors on Saturday (3pm) and, asked his thoughts on a big nine months ahead, Hessenthaler said: “Realistically we’ve got to improve on last year.

“We’ve got 17 outfield players and two goalkeepers, so the squad’s not massive, but we’ve still got a good group of players. The five boys we’ve added can only make us stronger and I still think our aspirations should be top seven.

“Because of the change of ownership and people leaving, there are people in the outside world who think we’ll struggle.

“But in our own dressing room, we know we’ve got a decent group here.

"We’re going to give it a good go and maybe surprise a few people.

“Top seven won’t be easy though," he warned. "The league seems to be getting harder every year.

“We’ve now got Salford City, who've made some unbelievable signings, plus Martin Allen’s Chesterfield and John Still’s Barnet. Martin and John both know this level and they’ve won the league before.

“Plus there’s Sutton, Wrexham, Hartlepool, Orient... it’s quite exciting.”

Hessenthaler’s compact squad is already stretched with Jones and defender Ryan Cresswell ruled out on Saturday.

Although Jones got through 90 minutes at Winchester City last Saturday, he is “not completely comfortable” according to the boss. Cresswell, meanwhile, is “not up to speed yet in terms of playing games” after an injury-plagued couple of seasons.

“Joey had a knock on the Achilles and now his groin’s a bit sore,” Hessenthaler explained. “He's missed four pre-season games and is not 100 per cent right for the weekend.

"Cress was forced to play last year when not fully fit and picked up other injuries, so we're mindful of that. We're waiting to hear from the physio on that one."

Defensive man mountain Reda Johnson will be involved against Solihull, but he too has a history of injuries and Hessenthaler confessed: "If we get him to play every game, it will be a bit of a miracle.

"We go to Sutton on Tuesday and he does have problems playing on 3G, but he looks fit and he's ready for Saturday."

Apprentices Tom Bearwish, Ollie Dennett, Lewis Harvey and Callum Baughan, all part of the first-team squad, are likely to be sent out on loan to gain experience and game time.