ANDY Preece should not feel guilty casting envious glances towards one or two Nationwide North rivals this summer.

For while Worcester City's prudent player-manager plays a cautious game with his budget for new players, others are already splashing the cash.

Just like City, a throng of ambitious clubs crave promotion and hope to mirror the feats of Southport and, more remarkably, play-off winners Altrincham.

However, several clubs clearly don't have the same fiscal problems shouldered at St George's Lane.

For example, observe the developments at Hinckley United and Stalybridge Celtic, two teams that ended the campaign in the bottom half of the table, and in Celtic's case, survived relegation by a whisker.

Both wasted no time in the acquisition stakes, reeling in four summer signings each before the FA Trophy final had even kicked-off.

There is no law against such mass recruitment in the very early stages of the close season, but the message is loud and clear to the league's chasing pack, including Worcester.

It reads: 'We mean business' --and they want everyone to know.

It is unclear whether Hinckley and Celtic are 'wealthy clubs', although the rhetoric from Leicestershire and Tameside suggests there is plenty of money in the pot for respective managers Dean Thomas and John Reed.

Reed promised further chan-ges, saying: "My heart wouldn't stand anything like last season happening again. I'll be striving to put together a squad that will finish the campaign at the right end of the Nationwide North."

Celtic's new players are high on quality too.

Consecutive

Prolific striker Lee Ellington, who bagged three consecutive 20-goal seasons at Gainsborough Trinity, would not have come cheap.

At Hinckley, forward Mark McGregor joins after rattling 17 league goals for Weston-super-Mare last season and City legend Carl Heeley is enjoying better terms at the newly built Marston stadium.

Worcester can expect other big rivals, with greater spending power, to soon make inroads. Relegated Forest Green Rovers are poised to go full-time, while Redditch, Alfreton and Droylsden remain well resourced.

With City run on tight financial lines, the task facing Preece is to out-match the league's big payers by unearthing gems on the cheap, rather than forking out large sums of money.

Preece said: "It's difficult to say how our budget compares with other clubs, but I would guess we would be in mid-table. There is quite a big gap from us to the league's big payers.

"So for us to challenge the top payers, it will be about good management, bringing in the right players, getting the best out of the players and getting the balance right."

That will start by bringing in a top quality centre-half to partner Barry Woolley and a hard-working midfield water-carrier, who can provide the donkey work behind Jai Stanley.