Royston Town boss Steve Castle has expressed his delight at how pre-season has gone - then challenged his players to go out and prove it where it matters.

The Crows rounded off an impressive round of friendlies with a 0-0 draw against Southern League Premier Division outfit Cambridge City on Tuesday night.

That means Royston have remained unbeaten this summer in warm-up matches - four wins and two draws, as well as seeing off higher-league Hemel Hempstead Town 3-0 in the first round of the Herts Charity Cup.

“It has been an extremely pleasing pre-season,” said former Birmingham City midfielder Castle.

“The only negative is that we don’t have any points on the board from it.”

“I think we will have gained a tremendous amount of confidence from how things have gone.

“But it is never a guarantee - I have been involved in football long enough to know that a decent pre-season is no guarantee of how things go once the league begins.

“The whole league this year looks tough, and once we are 12 or so games in, we will know where we are.”

Royston open their Southern League Division One Central campaign up on Saturday with a home clash against Rugby Town, kick-off is 3pm at Garden Walk.

It may have been a somewhat tasty affair in the past, but Castle is simply hoping his team can go out and get the three points.

“Obviously before my time there was an altercation between the two teams, a bit of bad blood, but there certainly isn’t as far as I am concerned,” he added.

“They are a good team, we saw that when they played us last season. But it’s nice to have a home game first up, and it will be a good yard-stick to see how we have developed.”

Royston’s board and fans alike will be hoping for a promotion push once more this season.

And boss Castle sees no reason why his Crows outfit can’t enjoy a successful season ahead.

“If people have come to pre-season they will see that there is a hell of a lot of good football played here,” he added.

“As long as we compete, and progress, we can enjoy a season of positives and success.”