Max Mitchell says Potters Bar Town will take as long as is required to build the right squad for this season - although the building blocks put in place so far are making him very happy.

The boss fielded seven trialists among almost two teams in the friendly against Stevenage U18s, one which the Scholars won 4-1.

One of those trialists scored, ex-WGC man Cyrus Babaie, while Calvin Dickson, Johnny Allotey and Sam Chaney got the others.

And in terms of an exercise, the match ticked all the boxes.

Mitchell said: "We’ve spoken about it in depth and we have to be patient. There are still a few positions that we're looking at and there were multiple trialists in tonight. 

"A few definitely took their opportunity and a few didn't if I'm being brutally honest. 

"But we're not going to rush it. We want the right type of player. We've got specific profiles for certain positions that we need to recruit in and we're not done yet. 

"But we are really pleased in terms of how it's come together from where we were. We had a massive exodus last year and we had to go through some adversity while we were in that transition. 

"But I believe we are putting the right environment in place and implementing the right style.

"It takes time but we’ll be as ready as we can for August 12 and the trip to Carshalton."

 

 

 

There were gaps in the squad, with some away on holiday and others nursing knocks, but it didn't detract from the eye-catching display.

"Some of the goals we scored tonight were fantastic," said the boss. "Johnny's first half strike, that was some strike, Cyrus on the half turn.

"There were some really pleasing and eye-catching goals and we want to be that way inclined.

"We want to play an attacking brand of football, especially at home, making sure that we play on the front foot and give the fans something that the fans. 

"It's a new phase for all of us and we'll always look at things where we can improve on. 

"We haven't really worked on anything in particular just because of the time restraints that we've had with the group. 

"But we're now in the phase where we'll look at certain individuals and take them away.  

"We've played a shape here that is brand new to us and we haven't had any time to work on that. 

"We'll look to do that. We'll look at certain patterns of play in and around that formation and just keep building."

The game itself was partly designed to give the Scholars experience of having the majority of possession, while for Stevenage it was about playing senior football.

Mitchell said: "We’re still building the conditioning into the players that we need to. 

"It was just about looking at some individuals and a few main principles of play that we're trying to get across to the group. 

"I felt they adapted well against a really young and ambitious Stevenage side and credit to them. I thought they were really brave in possession.  

"They came unstuck a little bit at times in terms of the physical aspect of the game, but they're going to. There were some 16-17-year-olds out there and they’ll learn a lot from that. 

"But on our part, I’m really pleased to be where we are at the current time."