Mark Yates Happy With Workout In First Friendly Of The Season
Mark Yates speaking to the media following the 1-1 with Evesham United:"It was a really good workout. We played well for an hour and then got sloppy. Our second half team created plenty of chances and played some decent stuff but made a few mistakes defensively.
"We were beaten by Stourbridge last year so results in pre-season mean zip. It has been a tough pre-season so far and today was all about continuing that programme. Today gave us the chance to identify a few things and look at a few trialists so it has been useful in that respect.
"I thought both Sam (Deering) and Billy (Jones) were good. Billy is a real steady eddie and he'll be a 7 or 8 out of 10 every week. Sam Deering showed me what he is going to be about but we just need to get him fitter.
"Phil Smith did well and we'll see where we go with that. I'll probably be looking to get a younger goalkeeper and I would expect I couldn't afford Phil. Tristan Plummer has been in Portugal for the past year and has done well but he wants to get back. He is one we'll ask to come down to Wales with is. He is a talented player and if you can harness that ability then he will do well but he needs fitness. I probably won't take any other trialists other than Tristan to Wales. I'd like to thank them all for their effort.
"We gave Alan Bennett a breather today and he'll get some game time on Tuesday. He is as fit as a fiddle but we wanted to give a few of the trialists a chance.
"We have two sessions on Monday when we get to Wales and then another on Tuesday before the game against Port Talbot. We'll train Wednesday and then we might do some bonding after that. It's important we get to know each other and we benefited from that last season."