DAN Hart has committed his future to a multi-year contract in charge of Buckland Athletic Football Club.

‘For the club to show the faith in me that they have done since I arrived here has been really beneficial to what we have managed to achieve so far on the pitch,’ Hart said.

‘Doing this and making this official is the right step into the next few years for myself and for the club and well.’

Buckland is a club brimming with ambition, with a view to moving up to Step Four football in the near future. The Bucks are going about preparations for a title assault in the right manner, battling amongst the top clubs in the Western League this season.

‘I think the club is very aligned,’ Hart explained. ‘Ever since I came here to speak to the club, it is incredibly ambitious, and we know that it has to be measurable and it has to be timely but this club has everything it needs to move up to Step Four and once that’s achieved – and I have every confidence that it will be in the next few years – we can focus on how we can get to that next level again.’

Hart’s side sit fifth in the Western League, with notable results including a 1-0 win over third-placed Shepton Mallet.

‘I don’t think I’ll ever be satisfied until we are sitting at the top,’ Hart continued, ‘and that’s the way that it needs to be.

‘There has been pleasing performances and there has been signs of that long-term success that we are going to drive here, and I think the players just needed a little change in mentality and a little bit of shift in culture here, and I think we’ve made steps to start to achieve that.

‘I’m satisfied with where we are in the table but I think we can be a whole lot more consistent and, between now and May, I think we need to really make steps to be ready and then come next year, we’re hopeful for a real tilt at the title.’

Through the early stages of this campaign, Hart has bolstered the ranks at Homers Heath with a number of signings. Jesse Howe, Jordan McCarthy, Finn Roberts and George Dandridge have all joined the Bucks since the season got under way.

‘I’m very pleased with the group that we have,’ said Hart. ‘It’s changed quite a bit in the early part of the season, and that’s because we like certain characters in and around the dressing room.

‘We’ve lost players that I really enjoyed working with – and nobody since I came here I haven’t enjoyed working with at all – but we need to new ruthless in the way that we keep moving forward, and if this club is going to be as successful off the pitch as it is on the pitch, then we have to make brutal decisions, and that’s part of football. But I am very happy with the squad.

‘Like every manager, there’s players that I want out there that can improve it, but it’s important that when we do now bring in players, they’re ones that significantly improve the squad and also are the right character to fit in the dressing room.’