Southport manager Liam Watson says he has his mind set on which team he will field in their season opener with Boston United.
In their final pre-season friendly against Everton U23s they were soundly dispatched by Paul Tait’s side.
But during the defeat, the Southport boss was handed answers in terms of his team that he wasn’t looking for.
He told Off The Park: “I wasn’t overly deflated (following the defeat to Everton U23s), like I’m not overly happy with some of the games we’ve had in pre-season it gives you answers sometimes you’re not looking for them but it gives you them.
“I found one or two things, one or two players played themselves out the team rather than in the team. I’ve got my mind set so I know where I am.”
A season-ending knee injury to summer arrival Nyal Bell raised concerns of their striking options before an injury to Josh Hmami added to fears around the squad depth.
Watson added: “Short in the fact of numbers but not short in quality. I’m more than happy with what I’ve got in terms of figure-wise, Josh Hmami will be for a few weeks then I’m fully expecting him back fighting on all cylinders.
“No,” when asked whether any trialists that had featured in recent matches will be signing. “We’re obviously going to look to try to replace Nyal Bell but we’re cracking on with that one, so hopefully we’ll have someone through the door shortly. We think we’re going to get a League player, someone on loan from the Football League. He will be involved on Saturday.”
On Thursday evening, Southport confirmed the loan arrival of Enock Lusiama from Accrington Stanley on a one-month deal.
Port travel to Boston this weekend looking to get off to a better start than they did last season, Watson said on the clash: “I think Boston will be tipped as one of the favourites so it could be a good time to play them. We’ve got to go play everyone anyway so from that point of view, the 11 we’ll put out will be strong enough for this level. We just need a bit of a bounce and a good start, as everyone does on the first day.
“We probably give ourselves a really uphill battle at the start of last season because we didn’t have a great start although we did play good football. We started season playing really well but we took four points from the first six games and then went on a really good win. But some of the football when we were winning wasn’t as good as the football when we were getting beat. So it’s football, you just want to get your first win home and away, first clean sheet as quick as you can.”
