COMPETITION in Blue Square Bet North is getting tougher year-on-year and I think this season is the strongest it has ever been.

You could quite easily reel off 10 sides, including Worcester City , who could do well when it comes to challenging for promotion and the play-offs.

Guiseley have not been out of the top few places since they joined the league while knocking on the door of promotion.

They have added to their squad and are stronger than last year in my opinion.

Then there’s the likes of Halifax and Chester, who have been widely tipped. Gainsborough Trinity and Altrincham are good sides too.

Chester had a crowd of 3,000 for their 1-0 win over Workington on Wednesday, which wouldn’t look out of place in League Two, and, with that kind of income, they are going to be a force to be reckoned with.

Brackley, another promoted side, have also got good resources.

We are also stronger at Worcester but needed to be. There’s no guarantee we can keep improving but we are trying to better our seventh place from last season.

However, until the league settles down over the next few weeks, it will be difficult to predict because there are some good sides.

With that in mind, we had two tough games to start the season — against Bradford Park Avenue and Bishop’s Stortford — and came through them well.

We would have been satisfied with a point at Bradford before the game kicked off last Saturday.

After having them watched, we knew they were a good side and it was a tough place to go, made difficult by the fact there is a running track around the pitch which affects the atmosphere.

Playing teams who have the momentum of promotion can also be difficult but when you are 2-0 up with 15 minutes to go, you are looking at winning.

But, on reflection, we’re quite satisfied with the point given to us by goals from Mike Symons and Rob Elvins.

After the game, we told the players it was a good draw but if we could beat Bishop’s Stortford at home then four points from two games would be great.

That’s exactly what we did at St George’s Lane on Monday, winning 2-0 with both goals from Symmo, and I felt the performances in both games, apart from the second-half at Bradford, were good.

We were one of the form teams in the final third of last year but so were Bishop’s Stortford.

It was an entertaining game with little to choose between the sides but we just had that extra cutting edge.