IT IS time for the talking to stop and the real football to begin as the Ryman League Division One gets under way on Saturday.

Dartford face new challenges in their inaugural appearance in the league after the FA instigated a new-look non-league pyramid.

However, Tony Burman's men will also be facing some old foes and he believes the odds are stacked against his men before a ball has even been kicked.

He said: "There are about nine Kent sides and I feel those games are going to be tough on both teams.

"It is a disadvantage because there are going to be so many derbies and they can be like cup matches with a cup atmosphere and often there are shocks in cup matches.

"The top team in league could lose to the bottom team because it is a one-off game where anything can happen.

"It is certainly to the advantage of the teams not based in Kent."

Dartford kick off with a trip to Burgess Hill before welcoming Molesey to their temporary home at East Thurrock.

The planned move to Princes Park has been put back from the original September 23 date for an unspecified period of time although it is believed the move will now take place sometime in October.

Dartford completed their pre-season programme on Saturday with an impressive performace at Folkestone Invicta despite a 1-0 defeat.

It took the the Ryman Premier Division 87 minutes to break down Burman's men in the Sid Burvill Cup match.

But the result matters little to boss Tony Burman who has been impressed with his players' return to match fitness.

He said: "I am pleased with the way things are going although results do not matter too much.

"It is just a question of seeing if the players are getting fitter as days go by and they are.

"It was a big test for us against Folkestone Invicta and these games are helpful to see just how far the players have come and where they are fitness wise."

The Folkestone result is the team's first defeat in eight matches which has seen Darts score 17 goals with Ryan Hayes, last year's top marksman, netting three times and Brendan Cass scoring four.

Despite his concerns over the Kent games, Burman is under no illusions it is a difficult league in its own right.

He said: "It is a long season and there are lots of teams who have good financial backing who will be pushing for promotion.

"We want to do better than we did last year when we finished seventh and this goes for the cups too.

"We went out at the first hurdle in the FA Cup and so want to progress further this year."

He added: "We have been trying to play football and building up to the first game of the season.

"We have to be ready and I am about 80 per cent sure of my starting line-up."