After a strong performance against Welling United, Cray Valley PM manager Kevin Watson spoke of his feelings about his pre-season processes and the game itself.

When the worldwide pandemic caused last season to end early, the Millers were the team with momentum and pushing for back-to-back promotions. Watson felt frustration, more than disappointment but will not dwell on it.

He said “We’ve got over that and we’re planning for the season ahead. Things are starting to come together now with the F.A. Cup draw and F.A. Trophy draw and we should, by Monday I assume, hear about the league.

“We’re starting to be able to plan for competitive fixtures, whether that’s behind closed doors or not. That’s something that’s out of our control. We’ll control what we can which is training hard and getting the players prepared for when it does start.”

Three new players, Connor Dymond, Ade Yusuff and Rory Hill, have bolstered his squad ahead of the new term and he explained “If you want to improve, you need to bring in quality players. All three of them are very good calibre players.

“It’s always pre-season that you’re trying to juggle giving players minutes to get fit, getting your structure sorted and your new players coming in understanding your tactical bits and pieces. It’s that kind of process, pre-season, and it’s important to have it and we’ve got three more games to prepare.”

On the game with Welling United, he said “I felt that we were good first half. We were good value to take the lead. I was disappointed to concede. Obviously, we could have gone two up. I thought the desire, the commitment, the tempo and understanding tactically was there in the first half.

“The second half was slightly different. They made a lot of changes. We started to make some changes. I think the game lost a bit of momentum. That’s understandable in pre season.”

The game was played at a high tempo and there were a few tough challenges but Watson was happy with that confirming “People have got this perception about pre-season friendlies. We want to see a competitive edge to the players, all managers do, without going over the top with it. I think the game did have that and that’s what the players need in terms of their condition, as long as the tackles are reasonable.

“I was pleased. You’ve got to try and avoid injuries. We’ve had a bad one with Nat Blanks. Connor Dymond’s got a shoulder injury, Francis Babalola’s injured. They are three important players so you’ve got to try and avoid injuries.”