By Andrew Gidley

Assistant Whitstable Town manager Steve Nolan was not too unhappy after watching his side lose a two-goal lead in their opening pre-season friendly at reformed Ashford United on Tuesday.

Scott Heard and Dan Wisker gave Whitstable a 2-0 interval lead at Homelands, but numerous changes saw them go on to concede three goals.

Nolan, pictured, said: "It was our first game back and important for some of the boys to get 45 minutes.

"We played two different formations to see which one suited the boys and there were lots to take out of the game.

"The one we used in the first half worked well. We played at a high tempo, moved the ball around quickly and went in two-up.

"A lot of the players we used in the second half didn’t know each other. We changed the formation and things became a little bit disjointed but I wouldn’t be too critical.

"We had six trialists among the 19 players we used, some had 90 minutes, while others played for an hour and some for only 45."

Nolan and manager Peter Nott plan to look at other players in the pre-season friendly at Kent Invicta League new-boys Bearsted on Saturday (2pm) while the Oystermen travel to Deal Town on Tuesday night (7.45pm).