Hythe manager Steve Watt wants things to get difficult for his side in pre-season.

The Cannons impressed in Saturday’s 1-0 friendly victory at Southern Counties East Kennington.

Watt liked what he saw against a good Ton outfit but is also keen to see how Hythe cope in different situations before the new Isthmian South East season starts on August 6.

The Cannons travel to Isthmian Premier Carshalton this Saturday, having met Potters Bar behind closed doors on Tuesday night.

The Robins have a new manager in former Tonbridge boss Steve McKimm and Watt expects his side to be tested.

“Macca’s gone in there and recruited very well,” said Watt.

“He was very successful at Tonbridge, he’s always got good sides together, and it’ll be good to go to Carshalton and play against a difficult side.

“We’re not getting carried away by the first friendly. Yes, things looked good, but you also want things not to look good, so we know what needs to be fixed.

“Carshalton will cause us a lot of problems and they’re things we need to see in pre-season, certain situations and scenarios, that may come up in the season.

“We need to see how we deal with those, how we react, in terms of a new management team and as players.

“I don’t care about results in pre-season, never have done, it’s about performances and partnerships and getting principles of play in place so when the season starts, we’re ready to go.”

New captain Liam Smith scored the only goal at Kennington.

While the result was irrelevant, Watt was encouraged by the performance.

“I was really pleased,” he said. “It looked how I wanted it to look. We hadn’t even done a shape session, we just did a walk-through for five or 10 minutes on Thursday on things I wanted and the boys took to it well.

“It looked all over the park like we’d gelled quite well.

“We created loads of chances, we were good at both ends, if a little rusty in front of goal, - which you’d expect - but defensively we were solid and played some lovely stuff at times.

“The way I wanted it to look was how it came across, with good legs in the team, good athleticism and good quality.”

Watt remains open to strengthening his squad.

“We’re still looking in a couple of areas,” he said.

“Towards the end of pre-season, people start becoming available who have been on trial at higher clubs and haven’t got deals.”