EASTLEIGH boss Matt Gray said his message is “as clear as ever” after his side played a respectable 3-1 loss to Championship neighbours Saints.
The non-league side took a surprise early lead through Nick Akoto, before debutant Lewis Dobbin and Nick Oyekunle scored their first Saints goals.
Romeo Akachukwu completed the scoring late in the second half, but the hosts forced their opposition into a subdued performance in front of goal.
After his third game with the club, Gray was pleased with the showing and improvement as the opening game of the campaign draws nearer.
“It was a really pleasing evening for us against a top side,” he said. “The first goal and our shape off the ball from that moment was very positive.
Boss Tonda Eckert is here and looking in good spirits#SaintsFC pic.twitter.com/RT6PxQDHJE
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“We had more chances to get in behind and sometimes we just lacked a little bit of quality to capitalise on those opportunities.
“It’s difficult to put a finger on what those qualities are specifically, because we aren’t fully up to speed yet; it’s only our third game together.
“But we were also forced to do more running than we would in a league game, so when we turn the ball over late on, we’re that much more tired.
“There is consistency in my messages and the steps that we will have to keep improving upon as a team; that’s why we have seven pre-season games
“Those six weeks together are to get that information into the team slowly; that can’t be done in one day and we are already on the up.”
Eastleigh returned to the Silverlake Stadium for the first time this pre-season after losses to Poole Town and Horsham on the road this month.
Gray accepted the results, despite coming against lower-league opposition, and insisted it is part of the process of preparing for the new campaign.
Gray said: “We conceded a short corner in our last game, but we haven’t had time to work on that yet. You can’t bombard them with information.
“We prioritise what we want to master, and by the end of pre-season, we will hopefully shape up into the team that we want to be.
"We were off the ball for a great portion here, which gave us a chance to work on our shape when out of possession. I thought we did that very well.”
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