STEVE Butterworth hopes Great Wakering Rovers player-coach Martin Tuohy will take his fine form into the new Isthmian North campaign.

The former Canvey Island frontman grabbed his third goal of pre-season as Wakering suffered a 3-1 defeat to Kent outfit VCD Athletic.

And Butterworth conceded pre-season form will count for nothing if Tuohy is unable to find the net when it matters most.

The Wakering player-manager said: “Martin has now got three goals in pre-season and that is pleasing.

“He has only played the full 90 minutes on one occasion so far, so three goals is not a bad return at all.

“But we need him to take that form into the new campaign because we have been a little bit light up front in pre-season.”

And Butterworth felt Wakering were beaten by VCD Athletic due to the hosts making a number of second half alterations.

“We were fairly comfortable for an hour and the scores were level at 1-1,” added Butterworth.

“But then they made seven substitutions with half an hour left and that gave them the fresh legs they needed to beat us.

“We’ve still got a couple of trialists because we’re a bit light in the full-back areas.

“We have struggled to replace Jason Ring, who joined East Thurrock United earlier in the summer, at right-back.

“It was important to give the players minutes on the pitch but it is not ideal to still have trialists with us at this stage.

“However, I am more than happy with the team we put out and it was a positive performance.”