WAYNE Kibble reckons that Malmesbury Victoria’s Wiltshire League promotion push is in safe hands as new player-manager Alan Griffin prepares to get stuck in to the new season.

Kibble led the Vics to the title last term in their first season after dropping down from the Hellenic League but has had to step aside due to his work commitments.

That has left striker Griffin, who will be assisted by Kevin Bridgeman, to take over the reins and with Malmesbury targeting promotion back to step six of the National League System, Kibble has no doubt that the right man for the job is in position.

“With my change in work circumstances, it means that I can’t guarantee that I’ll be there for training or on Saturdays – Alan was happy to take over and it was just a case of ‘here you go’,” said Kibble.

“I’ll still try and get back to help with the U18s and to try and help Kev on the sidelines when Alan’s playing.

“It’s great to have someone like him as a coach and we’ve had a great pre-season, playing a lot of sides from higher leagues. Alan’s best friends with Andy Sandell (ex-Newport County captain) and when he didn’t have a club, he came in and put the boys through their paces.

“We want to go for promotion this year without a shadow of a doubt. From speaking to the lads, the Toolstation League seems to be the preference because if we were to go up, we’d have eight or nine local games, rather than travelling far away in the Hellenic.”

Malmesbury clinched the title by a healthy 10-point gap last season and Kibble is sure that repeating that trick will prove all the more difficult now that his team are a scalp for the rest of the league.

He added: “I’m sure that will be the case but we’ve got a good team and we’ve kept everyone that we wanted to keep, so hopefully we can have a good season.”

The Vics kick-off on Saturday with a home clash against league new-boys Andover New Street Swifts.