TROWBRIDGE head coach Steve Ojomoh wants his side to set the tone for the rest of the season by making a strong start to their South West One East campaign at Doric Park tomorrow (3pm).

Former Bath and England star Ojomoh is determined that the squad will hit the ground running when they kick off against Newbury Blues, to whom they lost twice to in 2014-15.

The Wiltshire men secured a mid-table finish on their return to South West level last year, a commendable outcome coming off the back of a stellar 2013-14 in which they secured promotion from Southern Counties South and memorably lifted the RFU Intermediate Cup at Twickenham.

But Ojomoh believes a top-half finish should be within reach for his squad this term and tailored the club’s pre-season programme to try to ensure they wouldn’t be caught out when the competitive action got under way.

“The first thing to look at is that we’ve never really started a season on form,’’ said the 12-times capped former back row.

“So we deliberately took some tough pre-season games, playing away from home and things like that because it’s all about that start on September 5 (Saturday).

“To me, it’s a good thing that we’re up against a team (Newbury) we lost to home and away last season - it’s the sort of game I really wanted us to start with.’’

Scott (Taff) Williams takes over the first team captaincy from Lloyd Davis, with Williams’ brother, back row Matt, the main new signing, following his move into the area from South Wales, where he previously played for Dowlais, a Level Two Welsh league side, and Rhymney.

Williams is likely to be a ready-made replacement for former captain Barry Coombs, who has hung up his boots after being a regular for 15 seasons.

A trio of players who featured in the 2014 Twickenham final also return after a season off, including former Dorset And Wilts prop Sean Jones, who announced his retirement at the final.

With scrum-half Matt Johnson on holiday, Kyle Knight returns and back row Shane Johnstone is also in the squad.

Winger/full-back George Fowles has also joined from National League side Esher and starts in a second team friendly with their counterparts from Salisbury.

A league bolstered by the arrival of the likes of Salisbury, Swanage & Wareham and High Wycombe promises to be another tough assignment, but Ojomoh added: “Last season was a really good experience for us.

“It was a challenge and this season poses a new one.

“We saw what happened to teams like Devizes (who were relegated) in their second season at this level and we’ll need to adapt our game so that we don’t suffer the same fate.’’