United moved quickly in the off-season to secure the signatures of no less than three new players and Lakic is confident his side will "work harder" and be "more determined" than last season.

"We had a great season last year and our defence conceded only around 14 goals but it will be much more difficult this year as we will be playing against better teams," Lakic said.

"We've managed to secure three new players and we have lost only one from last year so we will be stronger and we have planned our pre-season to prepare the players for a higher level of soccer."

"I'll be happy if we finish in the top three or four but my aim is to make the top two and get promoted."

Lakic has lost the services of last season's top scorer Zoran Romanovski, who is to retire from the sport, but has managed to find two adequate replacements in the form of former Western Eagles forward Conrad Leski and former Ballarat Red Devils attacker Vincenzo Ierardo. "Any player who finishes top scorer is a big loss if he leaves and we'll definitely miss Zoran Romanovski but we have brought in two players to play in his position.

"Conrad [Leski] is a strong player who is good technically and is a very potent striker and goalscorer. Vince [Lerardo] is also a very good attacker and I'm sure both players will do well for us this season."

United kicks off its season with a difficult home match against Cairnlea, but Lakic says he is only "focused on pre-season" and turning his players into a "winning squad".

The round one clash is on April 10.