Why boss Shaun Wilkinson is having to put a 'leash' on his Baffins Milton Rovers players this pre-season

But he admitted he might have to put a 'leash' on some of his players in pre-season.

Baffins were 1-0 winners at Selsey in their opening friendly yesterday.

Tommy Scutt grabbed the only goal late on to ensure Wilkison's men started pre-season with a win.

Rovers took a squad of 21 players for the fixture, including three triallists, with all involved getting the best part of 45 minutes on the pitch.

Wilkinson admitted his football-starved team are hungry for training and matches to keep on coming - but he says he'll have to hold some of his players back so they do not burnout during pre-season.

He said: ‘The main thing is to bed the new lads in, get some minutes under their belts, a lot of them have had a long time with no football.

‘The lads, to be fair to them, they’re chomping at the bit. Every single one of them wants to play every single minute - I’m trying to put a leash on them at the minute - we had 21 there (at Selsey) yesterday so on the main they all got 45 minutes, which was the plan.

‘We’ve got real good competitions for places this season.

‘We had three tirallists playing so we had a look at them as well.’

Wilkinson was also able to use three of his summer signings for the first time at Selsey.

Defender Ed Sanders, midfielder Harry Sargeant and former Pompey youth product Oscar Johnston all played some part in Baffins' opening friendly.

And Wilkinson was delighted with the early signs from the trio he's brought to the club for the forthcoming Wessex League Premier Division campaign.

He said: ‘The new lads looked great. Ed (Sanders) - all three impressed me yesterday - was solid, Harry Sargeant looks exactly what we signed him for and what we’ve been missing - someone who can get around the pitch, win tackles and go box to box.’