New Racing Club Warwick boss Steve Sykes has admitted that he has already felt the ups and downs of life at Hampton Road.

The side kicked off their campaign on Saturday with a well-fought goalless draw against Bilston, but succumbed 1-0 to Cirencester on Monday - leaving Sykes perplexed.

He said:

"We played well in the first match and I was genuinely pleased but on Monday night we looked way behind them in terms of standard and we could easily have lost 3-0.

"I have brought in an entirely new stock of first team players, most of whom have come from lower divisions so they need to be given some time to adjust to the standard."

The 32-year-old manager, who was forced to stop playing four years ago through injury, is under no illusions about what success means at Racing.

"When I was manager of Alveston we won everything going, we got promoted and won four cups, but to suggest that is what I am aiming for here would be unrealistic.

"If we finished one place above the relegation zone this season, then that would be a good campaign.

"Racing have had their problems off the field in the past but hopefully they will be sorting those out while I am trying to sort out the problems on the pitch.

"We have got a very difficult start to the season so it will be a baptism of fire for everybody involved."

However, Sykes believes that Racing have several players that will shine in the Doctor Martens Southern Division including Geoff Amos, who was previously on the books at Aston Villa.

Sykes said:

"He has been outstanding and if he had given a bit more thought to his attitude at a younger age then he would certainly have been a top professional.

"He has everything a player could want, strength, pace and skill and playing right midfield he has been the best player in our two opening games.

"We also have Owen Lovelock, who used to play for Stoke City, and he is a top class full-back so we will have facets to frighten other teams."