DANNY Johnson believes his Radcliffe Borough team is beginning to take shape ahead of the new season, despite the loss of two of last season's key players.

Club captain Danny Lafferty and fellow defender Danny Lambert quit Stainton Park to join relegated Premier Division outfit Trafford last week.

And although shocked by the duo's decision, Johnson believes their departures could be a blessing in disguise as he looks to begin a new era at the Evo-Stik Division One club.

"I am a little disappointed with the lads because both of them shook on a deal at the end of last season and said they wanted to stay," he said.

"But they have both been at Radcliffe for a number of years and the club has finished near the bottom of the league every year they've been here.

"So maybe it is time for those players to move on and for us to recruit better players to replace them.

"As pre-season nears its end there will be a lot of players becoming available and we'll be looking to improve.

"We've already got a good core of 16 players, with new signing Jamie Forbes from Atherton LR committing to us early on, and I've got five or six trialists coming in to, so we are going to be in good shape."

The loss of Lafferty and Lambert is the second blow Johnson has received this summer with the Boro boss hearing of assistant manager Wayne Goodison's departure to local rivals Ramsbottom United via social media.

"It was a bolt out of the blue," said Johnson.

"I was at home watching television and read it on Twitter."

With a new second in command likely to be announced soon, Johnson has moved to give Radcliffe legend Steve Foster a player/coach role while influential versatile defensive midfielder Richard Smith will take over the captaincy following an impressive debut season, which saw him scoop the Supporters Young Player of the Year award in May.

Boro are dusting away the cobwebs with light training sessions this week before kick starting their pre-season training next Thursday.