FC Isle of Man have made some changes to its backroom staff ahead of the new North West Counties Premier Division season, which kicks off in earnest next month.

Assistant manager Alex Harrison has moved into more of an island-based scouting role, meaning long-time coach Gareth Lloyd is going to step up to be Paul Jones’s right-hand man this season.

Sam Caine, Juan Watney and David Cherry will continue in their coaching roles with the squad. Veteran Rushen and island number one Mark Blair has also been invited in to help Cherry with the coaching of the squad’s goalkeepers.

Speaking as the squad met for the first time ahead of the campaign’s start on July 26, Jones said: ‘We’re refining what we’re doing and getting better at what we’re doing and holding each other accountable to what we’re doing. Hopefully that will benefit the players in the weeks and months ahead.

‘The first three of four [pre-season] sessions are just about getting everyone together and assessing how some of them are that ended the season with knocks or have picked things up over the off-season.

‘We can then gradually work harder, building up to the final two or three weeks before the season starts at the end of next month.

‘It’s going to be hard work, but sensible to ensure we have a full squad when the season begins and so they don’t break halfway through the campaign.

‘Pre-season is a tricky one to get right, but we’ve learned a lot of lessons over the last couple of seasons so hopefully we can do a bit better than last year.’