Manager Nikki Bull says his sole focus remains on the football as Margate prepare to launch the new Vanarama National League South season at home to Bath City on Saturday.

Bull said he is pleased with the way Gate’s pre-season has gone but conceded the resignation of chief executive Ryan Day had cast a shadow over the club in the past week.

Day announced the decision last Thursday – despite Bull’s best efforts to talk him out of it – and while conceding the timing of the announcement wasn’t great, the Gate boss says that everyone at Hartsdown, including him, now needs to move on. Day himself has, being unveiled as Gosport's new CEO on Thursday night.

Bull said: “I’m just concentrating on the football, that’s my job. I don’t really care who’s running the club, or paying the bills, that’s none of my business.

“The parameters of my role are quite specific, my focus is on my staff, my players and ensuring we get good results. I can’t worry about any other stuff. The show must go on.

“I am, however, extremely sad to see Ryan go because we enjoyed an excellent working relationship and we’d both put in a lot of work over the summer to put the club on a more stable footing.

“In many respects, Ryan has walked away from his dream job. He’ll always remain a close friend of mine and it will only be in the coming days, weeks and months that people will appreciate just how much he did behind the scenes. The club have lost someone who genuinely cared about the welfare of the club.”

Gate ended their pre-season build-up with five wins and a draw from seven matches and Bull believes his new-look squad is coming together nicely.

He added: “I’m pleased with how it’s gone so far and it goes without saying that we’ll improve as the season goes on. That’s inevitable with the amount of new players we’ve got.”

Reading Academy keeper Lewis Ward will be Margate's No.1 after signing a six-month loan deal this week , while Bull’s only serious injury concern is winger Matthias Fanimo.

It had been feared the former West Ham man had ruptured his Achilles and would need an operation but that is now not the case and he could be back in four to six weeks.