SILSDEN get their league campaign underway on Saturday at Handsworth, with boss Danny Forrest praising the resilience of comeback kid Matty Moses.

Defender Moses has spent the last two years out with a serious knee injury, but never gave up.

He made his comeback in pre-season and will be hoping to establish himself as a first-team regular once again.

His boss Danny Forrest said: “Matty never felt he wouldn’t play again and has worked hard over the last two years to get fully fit.

“He’s still only in his mid-20s and has been at the club since the juniors.

“He was an important player for me in my first three years at the club and to have him back is massive, as he gets the club, being a local lad.

“His pre-season has been a bit stop-start with a few niggles, but we hope he’ll soon be able to get his body back up to speed and used to playing, week in, week out.”

Moses is set to star alongside a few returning familiar faces in Khurram Shazad, Kyle Hancock and Sammy Lee, while new attackers Mo Qasim, Joe Jagger and Jack Normanton have good pedigree at this level.

Forrest said: “That’s testament to what we’ve built up over the last five years, that the three who’ve come back trust us and enjoy the environment here.

“Those three know what we can offer them and vice versa, and we can get the best out of them.

“The team’s been in a rebuilding process for a while now, so we knew we had to work hard on recruitment this summer.

“A few of those we’ve brought in were long-term targets and I feel we’ve added where we needed, as we were a bit wooden going forward before.”

That explosive new forward line is set to get its first competitive outing in Silsden’s Northern Counties East League Premier Division opener at Handsworth.

Forrest is not expecting an easy ride on Saturday, saying: “We only moved into this league a couple of years ago, so we knew more about the likes of Thackley and Albion.

“But those further afield, like Handsworth, we had to learn about quickly.

“They have some great young players, a good boss, and are a well-run club, which spreads through to the team.

“It’ll be a tough start, and we’re playing them on their astroturf, which will be a bit different, but I’m not too fussed, as we’ll play everyone eventually.”

Silsden picked up just a single win in pre-season, against Steeton, but Forrest said: “We were using 22 players at times, which meant it could be disjointed.

“It was more about getting minutes, but I think the identity and style of play I’m after started to come out and we put in some good performances against top sides.

“We’ve had pre-seasons where we’ve won every game then had a poor start in the league, and vice versa, so it’s tough to read too much into it. Time will tell.”