DAN Hart was happy with his side’s performance despite a 4-0 defeat at the hands of Yeovil Town on Saturday.

The Buckland Athletic boss insists his focus was on getting playing time for his new-look team, which was reflected in his nine substitutions.

'It’s certainly not about results,’ he said. 

'They are always a good gauge but, for me, we got everything we needed to out of the game – I’m sure Yeovil did too – and I was really pleased to see that they came here very strong with two different line-ups, posed us lots of problems and tested us and the way we want to go about things. 

'I’m, really happy with the workout and, whilst the scoreline is a loss, it doesn’t really matter to me at this stage of pre-season. Fitness levels are the most important part.

'For us, the way we want to go about it this season, the way we want to play and the fact that we’ve got five or six new players in the door as well, it’s important they know what we want from them in possession and out of possession as well.’

Yeovil brought a strong side to Homers Heath and looked in good nick in the dawn of an exciting era with new owner Martin Hellier – who was in attendance – at the helm. Their goals came from Jordan Stevens, Jake Hyde, Frank Nouble and Matthew Worthington.

'[Sides like Yeovil] will test you,’ Hart said. 

'Because they operate full-time, they have the time to work on different things in training that we will never have the time or luxury to work on at this level. We have to deal with things dynamically on the pitch and we have to change bits and pieces of our structure on the fly, and that was a really interesting challenge. 

'It won’t happen so much over the season, so to get that practice in as a coach and a manger is vital in pre-season because it keeps you fresh.

'I think Yeovil were really good – they’re looking like they’re going to be really strong in that Step 2 with a really experienced set of coaches and a really experienced set of players. 

'Again, it wasn’t about results but it was about enjoying being without possession at times, and actually learning how to enjoy defending; we did that and I was really impressed with that.’

Although it was 90 minutes largely spent on the back foot, there were glimmers of quality from Buckland. Chance creation was not a problem for the industrious Bucks but finishing said chances proved to be difficult against their National League South opponents.

'I am disappointed we didn’t test the goalkeeper as much as we should’ve done,’ said Hart. 

'On reflection I think that Jared [Lewington] could have had two in the first half and Jesse [Howe] had a good chance at the end. I wasn’t too disappointed with the amount of chances we created against such a good side but I would have liked us to have tested the ‘keeper out a couple of times.’