Fleet boss Steve Brown was not unduly worried by Fleet’s lack of a cutting edge as the opening day of the Skrill South season drew a blank.
“We kept a clean sheet,” he said after the game. “And we need that clean-sheet mentality first and foremost. I know the quality I have in the squad will come to the forefront. I’m not unhappy with the performance and I’m sure it will get better.”
And the Fleet manager refused to blame a pre-match injury to Billy Bricknell for his side’s lack of goals, while also praising the visitors. “We knew it was going to be tight. Havant are dark horses and they are going to be up there at the end of the season. They were strong from set pieces and we defended them well.
“No excuses from me about Billy – there is plenty of quality in the team to replace missing strikers. It was not ideal him missing but whatever eleven I put out should have enough to give anyone a good game. Chances fell to Stacy and there were some big misses from Anthony Cook and Shane Huke’s missed header. There was lots of honest endeavour but both sides lacked quality in the final third. I can’t remember either keeper having a significant save to make.”
Brown, who said he was happy with his squad and was not looking to add to it in the short term, admitted Ben May was still some distance from full fitness but that he “wasn’t a million miles away” while Bricknell’s injury shouldn’t rule him out for very long either. Whether that will be in time for the match at Dover on Tuesday remains to be seen.