GRIMSBY Town joint boss Rob Scott believes all of the promoted clubs are well-capable of springing a surprise in the Conference next season.
Welling United, Salisbury City, Chester and Halifax Town will all take their place in the top tier next season after winning promotion from the leagues below last season.
Chester comfortably won the Blue Square Bet North by 16 points while Halifax beat Brackley in the league's play-off final.
Welling, featuring former Mariners frontman Kiernan Hughes-Mason took the Conference South title, with Salisbury winning their play-off final courtesy of a 3-2 win over Dover Athletic.
Scott believes all four sides are well-equipped to emulate the success of teams such as Dartford last season, and Braintree before them, who both impressed in their respective debut seasons in the league.
But Scott insists it's difficult to pinpoint who will be next season's 'dark horses' until clubs really show their hand in the transfer market.
"You always get one club that is a surprise," he told the Telegraph.
"Last season it was Dartford and before that was Braintree – they both did particularly well in their first season.
You look at the teams that the teams that have come up this time around and they're going to make it tough.
"Salisbury are full-time anyway and they're going to be a tough proposition and then there is Halifax, who are a big club in terms of their history and the squad they'll have to call on.
"They are all big clubs that have come up and they will certainly be tough opponents."
He continued: "It's difficult to tell who's going to be the dark horses this season because there is only a couple of clubs that have really started to sign players.
"A lot of clubs are doing the same as we're doing and that is hanging on.
"We've added Scott Neilson back into the squad and we're happy with that.
"We're just biding our time at the minute and there's nothing on the horizon in terms of the next couple of weeks."
