Gary Brabin is pleased with the first few days of pre-season training and he will not rush into decisions about additional players, his captain, and his tactics.

A small number of trialists joined the players at the start of this week and Brabin has been delighted with everyone's application: "The lads all look enthusiastic and sharp and there's a good team spirit about the place," he told cambridgeunited.com.

"The two new lads (Anthony Tonkin and Andy Parkinson) are mixing well with the lads and there's a good togetherness, which is what I want."

The squad was joined at the start of this week by trialists including Matt Halliday (former Norwich central defender, 21), Pat Bexfield (Cambridge-born former Norwich midfielder/defender, 20), Aaron Goode (QPR central defender, 19) and Ramon Calliste (former Man Utd, Wales U21 and Scunthorpe striker, 22).

Brabin has a couple of specific gaps in the squad that he wants to fill but stressed that he is looking for quality, not quantity.

"We definitely need another 'keeper. We want a little bit more competition for Pottsy, which I think will help him as well. He understands and appreciates that, so we need a number 2 keeper at the club pushing him for the number 1 jersey.

"But elsewhere we're just looking for quality. I'm still assessing the lads and they've been brilliant; their attitudes have been fantastic and I'm made up with that side of things, but I'm still looking for quality."

However Chester striker Chris Holroyd looks unlikely to become Brabin's next signing after news spread into the media that Chester had accepted United's bid for the young striker.

"I think it's fallen through because apparently a club in a higher division have been in for him and he's talking to them," revealed the U's boss.

"I think the fact that it leaked out that we were after him alerted a few other clubs and we might have lost out to a Football League club."

United's first pre-season game is on Saturday at King's Lynn but Brabin has not yet chosen his captain: "It's something that me and Paul (Carden) are speaking about but I want to get to know a bit more about the characters of the lads. I've got a few names in mind but I haven't decided yet."

Asked about his preferred formation he confirmed that U's fans can expect to see their team line up with a back four instead of last season's wingback system, and added, "I'm a big fan of a back four but after that I'm pretty open-minded, depending on the players on the field.

"I don't like messing around with it all the time but it will depend on the game, the venue, the personnel I've got, and there might be something we're working on tactically for a specific game. I'm not really a predictable type of manager and I think the attacking players we've got are quite exciting and we could play a number of different formations attacking-wise."

Closing for now with his expectations for the season ahead, the U's boss revealed that he has an eye on the long-term future as well as this season: "I want the players to all give me 100%, I want a good team spirit and I want a good link with the youth team, and I want the club to have a better, more solid foundation.

"Obviously I want us to be a top six side and pushing for promotion too, but I think those other things are important too.

"You want a good, solid foundation at the club so that we're ready for when we do eventually get promotion."

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Photos by kind courtesy of the Cambridge Evening News

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