Southern United is set to play a pre-season double-header this weekend.
It will meet Canterbury United in Timaru at 1pm on Saturday, before continuing on to Christchurch where it will play Tasman United at noon on Sunday.
The matches will be the first chance for the new squad to play against external opposition.
While the final squad is yet to be confirmed, a group of 20 - including two youth players who will train with the senior team - was named last month.
That includes nine of last year's squad, with newcomers coming from both within and outside the region.
This will give the group a chance to gel on the pitch.
There are changes right throughout the squad from last season.
Kristian Gibson joins the side's defensive unit from Nelson Suburbs, and is joined by university student Alex Cox and Roslyn-Wakari's Tom Connor.
They join the duo of Stephen Last and Conor O'Keeffe, who return from last year.
In the midfield, Caversham's Jared Grove, Roslyn-Wakari's Jack Pirie and Mosgiel's Morgan Day have come in, while Aidan Barbour-Ryan and Hamish Cotter are down from Christchurch.
They join established trio Danny Ledwith, Andrew Ridden and Michael Hogan.
Up front, Hayato Wakino, Garbhan Coughlan and Omar Guardiola add to the attacking power of Danny Furlong, Andy Mulligan and Ben Wade.
The team has its first national football league game on October 22, when it plays Auckland City at Sunnyvale.
