Welling United co-caretaker manager Tristan Lewis explained the player news that had taken place over the previous days prior to their game at Weston-super-Mare.

Confirming that Christian Nanetti has left the club he said “He’s gone to Cork City. They’ve given him an offer that he couldn’t refuse. It’s disappointing and we’ve got to move on as quickly as we can. We’re still in a battle to get points.

“It was a little bit disappointing losing Christian as the team had begun to pick itself, and players coming off the bench, you knew they were going to have an impact.

“There’s been a few times when people have been interested in him because his performances have been good. Mark (Goldberg) tried, and we tried tooth and nail to keep him. It wouldn’t be surprised  if one day he ends up in a Welling shirt again, and hopefully he does.

That opened the door for the signing of Tom Richards who was thrown straight into the starting line up. “A couple of the lads have played with him at Aldershot. I think, probably, naturally, you might say that he is a left back. Tom was available. He played 26 games in the Conf Prem last year. Is he an out and out winger? Possibly not.

“Did he do enough today? He only trained on Thursday and it was his first game today and I thought he did fine. He put in a great ball in for Dan Walker’s chance. Credit to him. He looked tidy. He knows some of the lads and he’s the right type of character for the dressing room and I think that’s important.”

However, Lewis confirmed “We’d still like to add one or two more but we’ve got to make sure that they’re the right players and the right characters for that group. It’s a good group of lads and we’ve got to look after them.”

“Finances dictate where we are. If we can bring a natural winger in, great. We’re happy with what we’ve got but if you go to any team in the world, if there’s a good player available, they’d be interested.”

Bringing in a new left sided player may have seemed tough on Archie Johnson and Joey Taylor but Lewis stated that their time would come. “We’re not fools, we know we still need to get fifteen or sixteen points. It’s very difference with inexperienced players to throw them in and is it a safe option to go with experience? I would say yes. Is it the correct option? I would say yes as well.

“All the lads like Archie who’s done great, he trains really well every week, he did really well at St. Albans playing out of position, they’re all a big part of what we’re doing. No question.”