CLARENDON, Jamaica — Coach Geoffrey Maxwell believes Humble Lion have as good a chance as any other team to win this season’s Red Stripe Premier League (RSPL).

Last season, the central Clarendon outfit finished a disappointing ninth in the 12-team league — five places lower than their historic fourth-place finish the previous campaign.

But Maxwell, who had replaced Lenny Hyde almost at the halfway stage of the season, thinks he could have done better had he been there from the start.

“When I came last season they had already gone about 17 or 18 games, so the aim was basically to keep the team out of relegation,” Maxwell said.

“This time,” he added, “our pre-season has been pretty good. I can’t complain. The players are in a fairly good condition. Our first aim is to try to ensure that we meet the criteria to be in the top four at the end of the third round.”

In Maxwell’s debut season, Humble Lion, playing a 3-5-2/5-3-2 formation, were more of an efficient unit than a slick, ball-playing team.

However, having gone through his first pre-season with the club, the veteran coach thinks the players are starting to get used to the system.

“It is a system that has worked well for me over the years,” he said. “After playing it for a while players will gradually get used to it. We are still falling short in certain areas, like putting away simple chances, but I really don’t see why we can’t challenge for the title.”

Humble Lion, who beat Cavalier 2-1 in the first round of the Flow Champions Cup on Wednesday, host Arnett Gardens in their opening RSPL fixture at Effortville Community Centre today.