Claire Nelson, the CEO of Netball Scotland and the woman who is behind the formation of UWS Sirens, Scotland’s first-ever professional netball team, is keen to push on from their sixth place finish in the 2017 Vitality Netball Superleague.

Earlier this week at the home of their new title sponsor UWS, Sirens unveiled their new roster of players, a 15-strong squad which includes a number of new signings including England internationalist Sara Bayman.

While sixth place was a creditable position in which to finish last season, Nelson admits to being disappointed having believed UWS Sirens had the potential to finish further up the Superleague table than that and she is not shy in expressing her ambitions for the coming season, which begins in February. “Last year, we were up against the challenge of being a new team and while we were delighted with the squad we put together, we also identified was that we needed more depth,” she said. “We learnt so much as a result of last year and I’m really excited about the squad we’ve pulled together this year. Top four is my target – I want to get to the Grand Final but everyone does so we know it will be a tough challenge. We won’t know until the season starts what the other teams are looking like so all I can focus on is our own team – we’ve got a great team, a fantastic coaching set-up and a good lead-in to the season so I have high expectations that the team is going to do really well in the coming season.”