Newport County’s assistant manager Wayne Hatswell felt there were plenty of positives to take from their pre-season friendly at Weston-super-Mare.
The Exiles’ fourth friendly of the summer was eventually settled by an 88th minute winner from 17-year-old Moses Alexander-Walker to send the squad to Torquay for a four-day training camp in good spirits.
“I felt we did really well in plenty of areas,’’ declared Hatswell. “I felt first-half we looked a real threat going forward, down both flanks, which was a good threat, and I thought we should have had a couple more goals.
“We made loads of changes after that and then it's about managing the game. But we made some good chances, had a goal disallowed and hit the bar, and didn’t allow them anything at the other end. So overall, I thought we played some excellent stuff against a good side.
“Probably for me and the gaffer it’s about the principles that we're doing as well, plus coming through the games without picking up any injuries. You've got to keep pushing them but not breaking them.’’
“We have a few days together now training in Torquay before the game on Saturday to work on a few things. The calibre of the competition just gets a little bit harder for us now as we edge towards the start of the season, and it’s just keeping everyone fit, in good spirits and good habits.
“Hopefully we can gain some good ideas and good performances from the last few games, which I felt we did against Weston. For example, once we got our press right after about 10 minutes, I felt we grew into the game.
“It’s about making sure that when we lose a ball, can we get after it; when we get possession can we get our wing backs high; can we get Antwi on the ball to get us going forward with runners, with good quality runs; can we keep working until the final whistle, which we did with the late goal from Moses; and so on.’’
*Meanwhile, Jaden Warner has been ruled out for up to four weeks with a knee injury.
The big central defender limped off 10 minutes after coming on as a second-half substitute in the friendly at Worcester City on Saturday. However, the injury was not as bad as first feared.