RHYL director of football Eddie Maurice-Jones has outlined his lofty ambitions as his side returns to competitive action this weekend.

The new-look Lilywhites begin their predicted Huws Gray Alliance title tilt at newly promoted Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochant on Saturday (2.30pm), with the squad ending a busy summer of prestigious friendlies with a narrow loss to Connah’s Quay Nomads.

Attention now turns to their pursuit of promotion back to the JD Welsh Premier League, and Maurice-Jones is in confident mood after making a number of significant additions that have bolstered the squad considerably.

He said: “I am made up with his things have gone in pre-season. We got the majority of players we wanted which shows the stature of Rhyl as at my previous clubs I am normally still chasing players at this stage.

“I am already very impressed with the way the lads have bonded and how much they are doing together, which I think it the most important thing for togetherness and was the main reason we had so much success at Denbigh and Gresford.

“Given the high-profile friendly fixtures we had to look at it in a different way and it was great to see the lads pushed to their limits and a few have really stood out and I think they are going to make a huge impact, plus you are not going to come up against that standard of opposition every week in the Cymru Alliance.

“We have been to see them (Llanrhaeadr), and they are going to be energetic and have a couple of good young lads in their side, but we will need to be on point every game as everyone is looking at us so the pressure is on to put in a good performance.”

Maurice-Jones is expecting big things from the likes of Mike Pritchard, Kristian Pierce and James Murphy, and the director of football has challenged his squad to take advantage of every opportunity to ensure their goals are met at the end of the season.

“When I came in here I wanted to do things my way and get 16 or 17 lads in that I can rely on when the going gets tough,” he added.

“Being at a club as big as Rhyl is new to me but we want to win every game, secure the title and also look at a good run in the Welsh Cup.

“I think anyone who finishes above Bangor will win the league, but there are three or four teams who will be thinking the same thing and I also think that Porthmadog and Flint will be very strong.”