HALSTEAD Town manager Mark McLean is confident there will be no hangover from his team's FA Vase exit last weekend when they return to Thurlow Nunn League division one south duties on Saturday.

The Humbugs made an early Vase departure when they were beaten 6-0 in their first qualifying round tie at Enfield Borough, but will look to shake that off when they head to Frenford in the league tomorrow ahead of a home game against Coggeshall United on Tuesday (kick-off 7.45pm).

McLean feels there will be no dwelling on the Vase game as he said he and his players were realistic that they had come up against an impressive opponent and with his team sitting joint top of division one south, he said they should be buoyant to continue progressing well.

The Humbugs boss said: "We spoke at length about the (Vase) game and the players have recognised what a strong side it was that they faced.

"We have to stay planted as we have a good crop here and we now have to get it out of our system.

"We've already made sure that the players have done that.

"Sometimes you just have to hold your hands up and see that you were out-played by a better side and this was one of those occasions.

"If you dwell on that, it will crucify you so we've moved on.

"What we have to remember is that we have got ourselves joint top in our own league without seven players who we expect to be coming back in the next few weeks.

"We have to flip it around and realise we are a brilliant group who are geared up for our league at our level and we're doing very well there."

McLean said he expected to have a number of absentees again for the trip to Frenford on Saturday, with Jamie Baker, Jack Schelvis, Tom Cook, Joe Morris and Chris Harris all either carrying injures or unavailable, while Jordan Pavett could also be missing.

However, Marcus Warren, James Regan and Nick Miller are all likely to return to action.

Looking back to the Vase game, though, McLean was quick to recognise the quality that his team had faced against Enfield Borough.

"We were just beaten by a brilliant side," he added.

"They are a club that are only three years old and I know they have a lot of players who have played at a higher level so they are very much a team on the up.

"I didn't think they would be as good as they were and ultimately we couldn't hold on.

"We started quite well as, from the footage of them I had seen and with us being depleted defensively, I felt we needed a high pressing game, but they were excellent going forward and there's a reason why they are the top step six scorers in the country.

"They have scored 30-odd goals in five games in their league (Spartan South Midlands League division one) and after we made a mistake at the back, their goal machine up front slammed the ball home.

"We then lost Connel Dunlop to injury in a challenge that I was surprised to see go unpunished and we had to reshuffle things as he was the only recognised centre half we had out there due to people still being unavailable.

"We hung on until half-time but they had been coming on strong so we were glad to get in just one down.

"I still felt we could do better, but we were mindful of where they were and to be honest, they blew us away after half-time and they really were the best team going forward that I have seen at this level.

"We are realistic about the game and even if we had the six or seven players who are currently missing for us, I think we would probably have still been beaten."