Witton places up for grabs says Cassidy

Reflecting on his side's 2-3 defeat at the hands of a youthful Newcastle United XI, Spartans manager Tommy Cassidy insisted there was still a chance for players to secure a starting lineup place in the season opener at Witton Albion next Saturday. The former Northern Ireland international said "I'm still undecided on my starting eleven for Witton next week and we have training on Tuesday and Thursday this week so there's places up for grabs and we need to work on things. Lee Mason and Carl Jones are back into the mix this week too and thats a bonus ahead of the game."

The return of former Gateshead defender Jones is a timely one for Cassidy as he feels his side we culpable of giving away cheap goals today. "We've given away silly goals in pre-season and today was another one. The first one from the corner was silly and nobody was tight on the man. Carl coming back will help with that. Today has told me a lot about the side and what we need to do".

Speaking about the performance as a whole Cassidy revealed he still expects improvement despite some promising signs. He said "It's been the same throughout pre-season, we've had some good moments and some not-so-good moments. There's been so many changes and things need to settle down. We did well for long periods and these games have their purpose." Cassidy had praise for midfielder Tom Berj's performance today and said "Young Tom Berj in midfield did well today again, he influences other players and gets them moving"

Cassidy will lead his side into their opening game of the Evo-Stik Northern Premier League campaign at Witton Albion next Saturday afternoon and full coverage will be available through our twitter page which you can follow at @Blyth_Spartans and match updates will appear on the website from 2.30pm. Kick off as normal is 3pm.