DUDLEY Town chairman Steve Austin has backed the team to show steady improvement this season.

The Robins lost their opening day fixture 3-0 against Wellington last Saturday.

However, Austin says he fully expected the squad to take a few games to get up to speed after a summer rebuilding process.

"It was disappointing to start with a loss but it wasn't a massive surprise," said Austin.

"We only had two players from last season and are starting from scratch. It means that it will take a while for the team to gel together.

"I'm expecting to see steady improvement the more games we play. We saw some of that during the second half and we can now look to move forward from here."

Town will now take on Haughmond at the Dell tonight before travelling to Bolehall Swifts in the Extra Preliminary Round of the FA Cup this Saturday.