George Thomason knows he faces extra competition in the Bolton Wanderers midfield this season but believes that will be good for both him and the rest of the squad.
The midfielder burst onto the scene last season with the Trotters and made 25 appearances for the Whites last season in all competitions as he became a regular under Ian Evatt.
Central midfield is an area of the Wanderers squad where arguably Evatt has the greatest strength in depth to choose from.
As well as Thomason, skipper Antoni Sarcevic can play in the engine room, as well as MJ Williams, Andrew Tutte, Kieran Lee, Brandon Comley, as well as new signing Josh Sheehan.
Signed from Longridge Town in January 2020, Thomason is effectively heading into his second season as a Wanderers first team player after making his debut for the club last campaign.
But the prospect of League One and the competition in the squad does not faze him - and on the contrary, he believes the experience he has around him in that area of the pitch can only benefit him.
He said: "I think the pressure will be good. I am still really young so I don’t have anything to fear, as such, and can take everything in my stride.
“The experience I have around me allows me to play my best football, so I just focus on improving day-to-day. I can only think about pushing forward and trying to improve, so I am really looking forward to this season.
“We have signed some real quality in the window and as I touched on then, I think they have added some real competition.
"Nobody can settle, nobody can be comfortable, because once you become comfortable you become vulnerable. I keep reiterating, the fact we have brought in good footballers as well as good people will only drive us towards success.
“It is the best thing for everyone. You don’t want to be in the side where you know the midfield three which will be picked week-in, week-out. That way you get complacent and that is when you lose football matches.
“We have a strong central midfield, my position, and I think that can only lead to good things.”
Thomason and Wanderers were promoted from League Two last campaign and that positivity from being promoted has transferred into pre-season.
The next game in their preparations for the fresh campaign is this evening against Atherton Collieries and Thomason is looking forward to getting more minutes under his belt.
He said: “We left last season on a really good note, so we came in with good vibes, happy, smiling. We know it is hard work but we get it done and look forward to August.
“It’s another good one to kickstart pre-season, more minutes in the legs and building relationships on the pitch.”
