AFC TOTTON may be out of the BigFreeBet.com Challenge Cup, but Tuesday’s 1-0 home defeat by Weymouth served its purpose.

Once again manager Louis Langdown turned to what he calls his ‘cup formation’, experimenting with a 3-5-2.

Totton head into Saturday’s game home against Evesham boasting the meanest defence in the Evo-Stik South West with just 14 goals conceded and their home record is joint best in the division, matched only by league leaders Taunton Town.

But, ever the perfectionist, Langdown is always looking at getting more out of his rapidly developing side.

“Not only did we play a different formation against Weymouth and give minutes to players, but we put people into different roles,” he explained.

“Curtis Young, who's normally a winger, played the No10 role and when (striker) Tony Lee came on he played in that hole.

“We had Jack Masterton as left wing-back and Robin Nicholls made his first start for us as a holding midfielder.”

Langdown is unlikely to start with that formation for Saturday’s 7th v 5th showdown with Evesham, but the more options he has at his disposal the better.

“I’ve always said that if we’re playing well the lads keep their shirts, but knowing we can be adaptable and alter things within a game is crucial,” he explained.

“That’s the beauty of us playing with Curtis and Toby (Adekunle) out wide. If we’re not getting the ball in an attacking sense in the way we need it, we have the ability to change.”

An 18th-minute Pat Suraci goal was enough for Premier Division visitors Weymouth on Tuesday, but Langdown felt Totton’s second-half performance deserved more.

“We gave them a bit too much respect first half so we told them to go back out and boss the game – and we did,” he said. “We passed the ball and got in their faces, we just couldn’t find the goal.

“We left losing, but happy that we’d shown what we could do second half.”

Totton have 18 players fit and available this weekend, meaning some will have to miss out.

“We could do well or we could lose ground on Saturday,” said Langdown.

“At this stage of the season it’s nice to be in and around it (the play-off places), but it’s not going to dictate where we finish.”