STEVE HALLIWELL believes Gresford Athletic’s cup tie with Bangor City will be a “good marker”.

Gresford have Eddie Maurice-Jones back in the dugout and a number of signings have been made since the abrupt end of the 2019/20 Cymru North campaign.

But Bangor City are expected to be up at the top end of the second tier challenging for promotion, and Halliwell knows Saturday’s trip to Nantporth represents a tough test.

“It will be a good marker for us,” said the director of football. “Bangor will be up there this year. They’ve got outstanding individual players, who cause you a lot of problems.

“They were a decent team last year, but they’ve signed some more good players and they’ve got a new manager, so that might mean a change of style as well.

“They will be feisty and make things difficult for us, but we are desperate to get back playing after a long nine months.”

While Bangor are fancied to be amongst those teams challenging for promotion, Gresford have had people talking given the return of Maurice-Jones as boss and some eye-catching signings, including Pritchard brothers Craig and Mike.

“I’m hearing people mention us as underdogs and that’s great after last season,” said Halliwell. “We are all ready to go at Bangor and in the league.

“Our recruitment was to add to the squad that finished last season by bringing in some of the best players in the area,

With competition for places comes selection headaches for Halliwell and Maurice-Jones.

“We’ve never had so many thumbs up for training,” said Halliwell. “We have some difficult decisions to make regarding who we are going to take in the 16-man squad. There will be some good players who miss out.

“There are going to be opportunities for players, though, and it’s up to us to keep the lads happy and ready for when they are called upon.”

Attacker Jordan MacCarter is the only man missing for Gresford as they head to Bangor City.

“Jordan is back in training, but it’s his first proper session with us after an operation,” said Halliwell. “Apart from that we’ve got a full squad to pick from.”

MacCarter’s former club, Ruthin Town, make their way to Conwy Borough tomorrow, while Holyhead Hotspur entertain Llandudno and Llanrhaeadr host Llangefni Town.