The phoney war is over. And Graham Westley feels ready to take his players into Blue Square battle against Tamworth at The Lamex Stadium on Saturday. The pre-season campaign has seen several Boro players establish themselves at the forefront of Westley

The phoney war is over.

And Graham Westley feels ready to take his players into Blue Square battle against Tamworth at The Lamex Stadium on Saturday.

The pre-season campaign has seen several Boro players establish themselves at the forefront of Westley's first team thinking and it is now time for the 41-year-old to select a team capable of picking up points rather than fitness.

Westley revealed that he and the players are "itching" for the season to start.

"It's a long haul the pre-season when you come back at the end of June," Westley told The Comet. "When you get through those early days of June and get into July you can't wait for August to come round and five or six weeks on you're itching to get competitive and start the action for real.

"I think we're ready. We've still got a bit of work to do but we feel ready and we're itching to go."

Westley has assembled a strong squad over the summer and said he will not have a first XI that will start every match depending on injuries. The Boro chief will be looking at the opposition and selecting players capable of punishing other team's deficiencies.

"I'm not going to pick a team and it be the team," he added. "I'm going to pick a team to try and win every game we play.

"That may mean one team will play on the Saturday and new players may be drafted in for the Tuesday. It's a squad of players and if we're going to win games consistently we're going to have to keep selecting teams that can win games and we're going to have to accept that players are going to be in and out of the side.

"But the team is going to have to keep a standard about it. It's about creating a squad of players that are strong, fit, organised and know what they're doing.

"We're a squad, we're one big club and unity is the key thing.