Losing your captain, your top scorer and several other first team players would have most managers in world football tearing their hair out. Add all that to the challenge of preparing for life in a new league with just a few weeks’ notice and you find yourself with the dilemma facing Mark Bartley.

The Marlow manager saw his 25-goal top scorer Lee Barney join Ryman Premier side Wingate and Finchley in June, before an FA approved league reshuffle saw the club moved from the Southern Central to South West division.

That decision left the Oak Tree Road side facing trips to teams a far afield as Somerset and Devon, leading to a number of Bartley’s squad to conclude that the travelling was too much for them to commit to.

Skipper Craig Scott stepped up a division to Slough Town, Dan Bailey moved to Uxbridge, Lewis Gabbidon moved down a division to Kidlington and James Knight is looking for a new club, with the Marlow boss adding that two potential new recruits also turned down moves as a result of the reshuffle.

“I’ve lost my captain, I’ve lost my top scorer, so it’s not been the easiest summer from that perspective,” said Bartley.

“I’ve just got to get on with the job really. It’s not ideal but there’s no point feeling sorry for yourself you have to roll your sleeves up and get on with it, which is what I’ve been doing.

“A few of the lads that I’ve bought in are good enough players and it’s just about how quickly I can get the side to gel and implement that game plan that we want.”

New recruits Sanchez Cammock, left-sided duo Ashley Watkins and Jordan Chandler, and striker Jordan Brown have joined over the summer as the club begin plotting for life in a new division.

Bartley said back in May that moving leagues had made his side “relegation favourites”, but the fixture list has gone some way to allaying his fears, with the club’s midweek matches not presenting too much of a logistical challenge.

A 112-mile round trip to Winchester City in their first Tuesday night game of the season is the furthest the club are scheduled to travel for a midweek league fixture, with other fixtures against Banbury and North Leigh also on the calendar.

Bartley said: “All we can hope for is that we don’t get the long trips on a Tuesday night, and we haven’t done to begin with.

“We’ve got to hope that on the weekends when we play those sides that the weather isn’t too bad and the game doesn’t get called off. The fixtures haven’t been too bad at all.

“They could have been a lot, lot worse. Midweek games away to Banbury and Winchester are not too bad for us, so we can do that. I’m looking forward to the season and I’m ready for it to start.”

The cup draws have also been kind to Marlow with home ties in the FA Cup and FA Trophy against Godalming and Wantage respectively, and another home draw against Hanwell Town in the Red Insure Cup.

“They’re not easy ties. Godalming will be tough as will Wantage, and we’ve got Hanwell in the league cup but we’re at home and that’s all you can ask for in the cup competitions,” said Bartley.

“We’ve got a home draw and we’ll be looking forward to that, definitely.”