Last Saturday, the newly promoted Lakeside got the better of the Baros with the home side suffering a 3-0 defeat against the well-oiled side. The Baros new management were not deterred however:

“We spoke before hand about what we wanted the players to get out of the match, which essentially was match sharpness and the 14 new players getting to know each other."

"The results are not important in pre season but of course it would have been better not to have lost the game,” said Dougie of the defeat.

It would seem that the loss has given the new management food for thought, with Dougie clear in his mind about the lessons to be learned from it.

“Two of the goals we conceded were disapointing, caused by trying to play in the wrong areas, but they are good learning curves. The third goal was a great strike and there was not much we could do about that.”

Despite the score, the Baros put up a good fight pitching a newly assembled aside against a long-standing one and Dougie was proud of the effort put in by his team.

“I was pleased that as the game progressed we started to see some good possession and created some chances. There will be some tired legs after that because every single one of them worked hard from start to finish.”

He had some good words for the Lakeside team too:

“Fair play to Lakeside they played some very good football at times and clearly have some exciting young players to add to what has already become a successful Cheltenham side.”

Looking ahead to tomorrow’s match, Dougie is feeling positive:

“Tuesday night will come around quickly and we hope to build on the positives from this game. There are players to come in who were unavailable for this one, which gives us a chance to mix things up again.”

However, he’s playing his cards close to his chest regarding a potential win.

“All of the pre season games were chosen to challenge the players and we expect Civil Service to be a tough test, which we welcome.”

Catch up on the Lakeside v. Baros game from Saturday here.