NEW head coach Jason Lee believes he will be in charge of a “great” Reading squad this season, writes Dave Wright.

Since taking over in the summer, the former England team manager has been recruiting players whilst also adding to the coaching staff.

“We’ve got many new players here, around 10,” he said. “When we have everyone available it will become a great team.”

Several of those brought in are current internationals with Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

“It’s now a matter of players getting to know each other, even probably finding out their names,” he added.

“They need to agree what they’d like to achieve for the season. It’s quite a big task, but they are here to enjoy their hockey and play well.”

Since leaving the England job, Marlow-based Lee has been working in a lot of different sports, though mostly involved with football’s Premier League.

“I work with them to help develop coaching and their youth systems, so that their academies actually deliver players to their first team,” he said.

“We are involved with all 92 (professional) clubs, but for the last few years my focus has been particularly with Arsenal, Leicester and Watford.”

Lee (pictured), however, has maintained some involvement in hockey, helping to develop coaches and assisting with England Hockey’s HiPac (high-performance assessment camp) and Futures Cup.

But he is pleased to be involved with Reading, saying: “It is a great club with a lot of history. I like the people around here and it is also just 20 minutes from home.”

Among his coaching assistants is Mike Hughes, previously with league rivals Holcombe.

“We will not always be available all of the time, so we are going to have a collective approach to coaching,” he explained.

Reading drew 2-2 with Wimbledon in a friendly at Sonning Lane last Sunday, their goals coming from James Carson and Ollie Deasy.

Among the new signings on view were GB pair Liam Sanford and Dan Kyriakides, Wales duo Ben Francis and Dale Hutchinson, along with Scotland’s Lee Morton and Adam Miller from America.

Reading, who are taking their first and second teams to the University of Exeter this weekend, start their Premier League fixtures at promoted Sevenoaks on September 23.

Reading Women, now playing in the Investec League Conference East following their relegation, will also go into the new campaign with a much-changed squad.

The new signings include goalkeeper Aurora Mears, who was No. 2 at Holcombe to GB star Maddie Hinch, and Lydia Thacker from Loughborough Students.

Two other new faces, Emily Harris (2) and Emma Royce were on target when Reading defeated Loughborough 5-0 in a friendly last Saturday, with Maz Downer and Emma Thomas adding one apiece.

Blues also lost 2-1 to Clifton, their goal coming from Fran Clement, who has joined the club from Havant.

This week, Harris was named in the England Under-16 squad, while club colleagues Abbie Dixon and Mila Welch make the Under-18 squad.