WEYMOUTH director of football Paul Maitland was heartened by the minutes gained by some of the first team during the Terras’ 2-0 defeat to Poole Town in the Dorset Senior Cup semi-final on Tuesday.
Maitland highlighted performances from new signing Kieron Roberts, Ashley Wells and Josh Carmichael as well as lamenting Mark Childs’ unavailability for the match.
Maitland said: “There is plenty to be heartened by, I thought Kieron put in a good first showing for us.
“It was important for Josh to build up where he has had a little spell out so it was good for him to get another 90 minutes in.
“It was good for Ash (Wells) to get another 90 in where he had not been in the side much of late and come back in.
“So it was important for those senior players as with Harry Baker as well, he is working his way back from injury.”
Maitland discussed Childs, implying that had he been available he would have played against Poole and as a result Tom McHale took his usual role between the sticks.
Maitland said: “Tom has played, unfortunately Mark was unavailable, which is a shame because we were looking forward to seeing him.
“He has been an asset since he has arrived and really pushed Tom and they work well as a pair so it is a shame we did not get to see him.”
Maitland added: “I thought overall we were pleased with the workout, not the result we wanted but the performance and the future were both bright.”
When asked if it was a well-timed match to take a look at the players ahead of the final run in the league, Maitland highlighted the importance of having a large pool of players to call on.
Maitland said: “The likes of Liam Harvey and Liam Farrugia they play their football generally elsewhere on a Saturday but they come in and train with us and we see them.
“I think they both showed (against Poole) that you would have no problems dropping either of them in if we needed to.
“It is important to have a large pool of players that you can go and call on, particularly for these types of competitions.
“They are players that have got futures potentially at this club so it is a good way to see them, a good chance for us to get to work with them and get to know them and I thought they showed a lot of character.”
The Terras resume their Evo-Stik Southern Premier South campaign at home to Swindon Supermarine on Saturday (3pm).
