KEVIN MUDD is putting the final touches to his squad for the forthcoming Ryman League campaign that begins next Saturday.

Following a series of friendlies that have seen the club reach both ends of the performance scale, the St Albans City boss thinks he knows his starting 11 for the season's opener at Carshalton, and which of the numerous triallists he wishes to keep, and those he will have to release.

He said: 'I have a budget and have to cut my cloth accordingly. Ideally, I would like to sign five more players, but realistically that may turn out to be only three.'

City stalwart Peter Risley was the latest player to put pen to paper when he signed his new contract before the Aylesbury game on Saturday. Left-back Risley has signed a one-year contract with an option for another year that would complete ten seasons with the club, and has been promised a testimonial season in 2001/02.

A delighted Mudd said: 'Peter has been a great servant to the club, he has a great left foot, is strong in both the air and in the tackle. It's just a shame he can't score goals.'

Offers have been made to other players and Mudd is hopeful that they will sign up following this weekend's trip to Margate.

The last seven days have been a roller coaster for City's manager and have seen a second string side lose to Stevenage in the Herts Charity Cup and the first eleven lose tamely to Aylesbury before raising their game in the thrashing of Hertford Town on Tuesday night.

'After the fiasco at Leighton Town, the most important thing about Friday night's game was to ensure everyone got 90 minutes football over the course of the weekend. Stevenage's Under-19s are a talented side all looking to impress their boss to get a shot in the Conference.

'There were several encouraging performances, most notably from Andy Futcher, in the game which I believe we were just a couple of players away from winning.'

In an honest assessment of Saturday's disappointing performance, Mudd added: 'Pre-season had been going very well but certain people's preparation for Saturday was poor, we were disjointed mentally and that showed in the way we played.

'Aylesbury applied themselves and we didn't, which disappointed me as there were players out there trying to earn themselves a contract. I made it clear to the the boys how unhappy I was after the game and they seemed to take that on board for Tuesday.'

The side's strikers finally found their scoring boots for the Hertford game in an all-round team performance that Mudd described simply as 'awesome'.

'The side showed the application and commitment I am looking for throughout the season. We can take a lot of positives out of the game, we set a good tempo and passed and moved very well, now we have to do that consistently.'

Mudd is looking forward to the Margate trip believing it will provide a good test for his squad, which is nearing the blend of experience and youth he is looking for, before the final cut to leave the manager with 'players who want to play for me and want to play for this club'.

THE highlight of St Albans City's pre-season friendlies is undoubtedly the visit of a Tottenham Hotspur XI to Clarence Park on Monday evening.

A mixture of first team and reserve players will be taking the field for the North London Premiership side, with big names such as Ruel Fox, Ramon Vega and Jose Dominguez expected to turn out.

Kick off is at 7.30pm and tickets are still available, priced £7 for adults and £5 for concessions.