Oxford City president Thomas Guerriero says his plans for the club are on course to succeed.

The Florida-based tycoon was at Marsh Lane on Saturday as City were beaten 2-1 by Harrogate Town in their opening game, but despite the defeat Guerriero said he remains confident that the club is progressing well. “We have a specific plan in place and it’s working exactly as we should hope,” Guerriero said.

“We’re taking it every day, step-by-step and hopefully at the end of every season we can look back and be proud of everything we’ve accomplished.”

Guerriero is in Britain for the first of what he says will be many visits, and admitted City are taking increasing priority among his business interests.

He said: “I commit 20 hours a day, six days a week to Oxford City, so it’s now my entire business focus.

“I know there’s no-one who works harder than me in the Skrill North and we’re very confident with our plans.

“We’re in this for the next 30 years, we’re very committed to Oxford City and the staff that are involved now.

“We looked at a couple of clubs in the Premiership and the Football League, but when you look at the types of people involved here it gives you that belief that we can achieve something.”

Some of those lofty ambitions may have been given a reality check after Saturday’s loss, but Guerriero remains optimistic.

“Obviously, there were some butterflies with it being the first game and there were a lot of expectations for both sides,” Guerriero added.

“We have high aspirations and we wouldn’t be competing if we didn’t strive for promotion, but obviously it’s a long season and there’s definitely room for improvement.”

Meanwhile, boss Mike Ford says City have to defend better, starting with tonight’s trip to Solihull Moors. “You can’t go to a place like Solihull and play free-flowing attacking football because they’ll punish you,” said Ford. “Including pre-season we haven’t kept a clean sheet in seven games and we’re shipping goals far too easily.

“The goals we conceded on Saturday were just amateurish and I think we made one tackle in the whole match. “I’m not saying we should go and batter our opponents, but we’ve got to get back to basics and do the nitty gritty.”

James Clifton returns after injury, while French pair Victor Francoz and Adam Maabdi could feature if their international clearance is confirmed.

TONIGHT’S SQUAD

Oxford City: from Scott, Clifton, Benjamin, Stonehouse, Ballard, Henderson, Willmott, Pond, Malone, Cook, Skendi, Winters, McNish, Green, Symons, Learoyd, Basham, Francoz, Maabdi.