Mark Ashford said building his Witham Town players' fitness was more important to him as a manager than the result of their pre-season game at Halstead Town.

Witham had taken the lead in the game with Sam Ashford hitting a hat-trick to open a 3-0 advantage, however, Halstead responded well in the latter stages of the match at the Milbank Stadium and scored three times to make sure it ended level at 3-3.

The Witham boss said there was plenty in his team's display to be positive about and while conceding three times in the second half wasn't ideal, he felt the changes he made after the break were important as they gave players valuable time on the pitch to build their fitness.

He said: "You want to see the fitness levels increasing at this stage of pre-season and there were players who we wanted to get minutes for.

"We don't have players just running in training so it was important for people like John Watson and Shami Pedulu to get time and you sometimes sacrifice the performance for the long-term picture of where you want the players to be.

"Had that been a league game, we wouldn't have made changes like we did and we'd have looked to see it out at 3-0 or 3-1, but it's important to look at the big picture and measure everyone's work loads.

"So it was good from that point of view, but there are some frustrating things that have been consistent in the players since I've been here and we've sat them down and said we need to start cutting them out to become a better side.

"I've hammered that message into them quite strongly and we'll see what players do pick that up."

Ashford said he wanted his players to play intelligently when they have the ball and will work with them to ensure they keep progressing in that part of their game.

"I want to see better decision making when we are in possession," he added.

"If you are going to be a team who is good in possession, you have to make good decisions when you have the ball.

"You have to understand that all teams are vulnerable when they have the ball because you open up and are attacking; you're vulnerable when you lose the ball so you have to take care of the ball.

"You have to make good decisions on it and do simple things and I want to see that.

"We did good things in getting to 3-0 at Halstead, but conceded and then I felt we imploded a bit in conceding twice more.

"Halstead kept going, though, and full credit to them.

"Some people say you shouldn't play sides below you in the league structure in pre-season, but teams raise their game against you and it gives your players a bit more pressure.

"The last two games - against Harwich and Halstead - have been good in that respect as both of them worked really hard and made us work hard.

"That's what you want.

"You want your players to feel pressure when they're in possession, to be uncomfortable and to get used to being uncomfortable.

"That's how you improve.

"So there were a few steps forward and some positives but also some frustrations when we were in possession that hurt us in conceding goals.

"I take responsibility for that because I put players on the pitch who may have just been coming back, but I'm trying to manage it so, come August 11, we're ready for our first league game of the season.

"I want our fitness levels in the group to be as high as they can be and you have to see the bigger picture.

"I know our fans would have wanted to see us maybe go on and push for more goals but, as a manager, you have to look at the bigger picture and make the substitutions you feel you need to make."

With both sides getting positives from the game, the only down side was an ankle injury picked up by Halstead striker Cameron Storie in the second half.

After lengthy treatment on the pitch, he was taken off on a stretcher and Ashford was quick to give the Humbugs player his best wishes for a speedy recovery

"The big thing for me was the injury to Cameron Storie," said the Witham boss.

"He was clearly in pain and that's not nice to see.

"It's pre-season and he'll have come back eager to come back, so to injure his ankle was tough.

"He was clearly in a lot of distress and our thoughts and best wishes go out to him.

"No-one wants to see that and results are irrelevant when you see something like that happen.

"Our thoughts are with him and I hope it's not as bad as it looked so he can recover quickly."