WITHAM Town manager Marc Benterman said there was nothing but positives to take from his team's first pre-season outing.

The Town boss' first game in charge was a 1-0 win at Thurlow Nunn League division one south side Harwich & Parkeston last weekend as striker George Bugg got his scoring tally up and running with the only goal of the game in the 21st minute.

Benterman had a good chance to have a close look at all of his fledgling squad for the first time and he was happy with what he saw.

He said: "Considering where we were three or four weeks ago, there were only positives to come out of the game.

"We had 20 lads who had never played together before and we came away with a very pleasing performance.

"Don't get me wrong, there is a lot still to work on and a long way to go, but I was very happy with what we saw.

"George Bugg got the only goal, but we could have had a number in the first half and it was quite pleasing to see things coming together.

"Harwich will be up there in their division this year so it was the type of opening test that we needed.

"I just wanted to see people and how they worked together in a game-related situation because I'd only seen them in training.

"We know there are good players in the group, but we needed to know whether they could convert that into a game or not and all we saw were positives. "There were honestly no negatives.

"The players showed that they are hitting their levels and that's where we want to be at this stage."

Witham now have a trip to Thurlow Nunn League premier division side Whitton United on Saturday (kick-off 3pm) and will then head to Essex Senior League club Sawbridgeworth Town on Tuesday (kick-off 7.45pm).

The Town boss said he was looking to ideally have a squad of 21 or 22 players available for the first team at the start of the BetVictor League division north season in August, with a number of players from the club's under-23 side included in that, so he was looking to continue honing his resources this week.

He added: "We have a trialist game on Tuesday behind closed doors where we'll have 16 come in plus some that we wanted to see again and I think that shows what a strong position the club is in.

"Then in the latter part of this week, we'll be sitting down as a management team and we'll look to cut one or two who we feel may not be what we're looking for at this time.

"That will then take us into the weekend and we'll take another 20-man squad to Whitton United where we'll look to move a step closer to where we want to be.

"Our pre-season was pretty much all in place when I came in, but I'm pleased with how it looks.

"You need physical tests and Thurlow Nunn League teams like Whitton will always give you that.

"Harwich was a good test last weekend and we're now looking to progress again, but to be honest, we are only looking at it from us rather than who we are playing.

"It's all about what we are looking to get out of the boys.

"We showed the levels that I wanted to reach at Harwich.

"We had ten changes at half-time and still hit the levels so that's pleasing."