Weston Ladies AFC begin their South West Regional Women's Football League Eastern Division at home this weekend.

The Seagulls welcome Paulton Rovers Ladies to The Optima Stadium 3G on Sunday (September 4) at 2pm.

And a week later they are on the road for a Vitality Women’s FA Cup first qualifying round tie at Frome Town.

Manager Sarah Adams says both games will bring about different challenges.

“With Paulton we are entering the unknown in many respects as we've never played this side before,” she told Weston Mercury Sport.

“We have a little bit of knowledge of some of their players and they've had a strong pre-season but on the whole they're a side we don't know too much about.

“Frome is quite the opposite as we played each other during pre-season so we've got a good idea about how they will set up.”

This will be the first season Weston have competed in the Eastern Division after last year saw them play in the Northern Division.

Weston took on eight other teams and played 16 matches between September and April.

This year Weston will play seven other teams home and away for a total of 14 games over the next three months, ending the first period at Stockwood Wanderers on December 11.

And Adams said, despite the challenges her side face, they are 'relishing the opportunity' to come up against new sides from different areas of the South West.

She added: “We have moved across to a new region of our league so will be up against teams we've not played before which provides new challenges for us that we are excited about.

“We've got some tough fixtures to kick-off the season against teams such as Frome and Weymouth but we can't wait to get started.”

However, Adams said the new league will give her side a chance get to know other local sides and they have goals of being able to have that desire to 'perform well' and 'enjoy the game'.

“It gives us opportunity to build relationships with other local sides who would've otherwise been direct competition, so it's exciting to see how we may be able to support each other now we aren't competing against each other,” she said.

“Our aim is simply to compete this year. Last year was a transition one for us, this year is all about having that desire to perform well. And ultimately just enjoy the game.

“We have some different targets within the squad that we will be working towards throughout the season but we just want to see what we do on the training pitch transferring into the games on Sunday.”