Woking manager Jermain Defoe is looking forward to the start of pre-season.

The Cards have got plenty of early business done this summer with the signings of Liam Dulson, Josh Ayres, Harrison Sohna and Zico Asare, and Defoe feels it is beneficial to get new faces in before pre-season.

“I think it's important,” said Defoe. “In an ideal world that's what you try to do.

“There's a lot of hard work behind the scenes to get it done. You can identify players but you have to reach out to the players and speak to the agents to try to get a deal done and get it over the line.

“The players we’ve signed are the players we believe can bring us forward. They are really good players.

“I can imagine all the clubs in this league will be trying to get players in. You always want to try to improve the squad and improve the team to improve on where we finished last year.

“Of course there's other players out there we would love to get in to strengthen the squad, but that takes time.

“We've got a list of players we're looking at that we believe are good enough to come and take us to the next level.

“I'm sure there will be more news but in terms of Josh, Zico, Liam and Harrison we're delighted we've got those over the line. The fans should be excited about those players because they're really good players.”

Defoe is looking forward to his first full season in charge at the Laithwaite Community Stadium after being appointed Woking’s manager at the end of March.

“I'm really excited,” said Defoe.

“It's never easy when you come in midway through the season because you don't have a lot of time on the grass with so many games back-to-back.

“To have that time in pre-season to be on the grass and hopefully start the season well is what you want.

“Once you start well you try to maintain that and achieve something special.

“The preparation started before last season finished. You have to be proactive. We're looking forward to pre-season.

“The games has changed a lot. The players will have their own plan because nowadays it's a case of trying to stay fit. The players will do a mini pre-season before pre-season so they come back and they're ready to go.

“Years ago you had your break and rested and then came back and got fit, but the demands of the game now are completely different. You have to stay fit.

“I've reached out to the boys and I know a lot of the boys have their own fitness coaches. A lot of the players are ready to go now, which is good.

“We've got a little bit of time but we'll be testing at the end of June and then back in training early July.

“I'm looking forward to pre-season, having that time on the grass and making sure we start the season strongly.

“You can train as much as you want but having good pre-season games gives you an understanding of where you're at in terms of fitness and the team you want to start the season.”