A shortage of players proved a blessing in disguise for Sittingbourne boss Nick Davis.

Nine first-teamers were unavailable for Friday night’s friendly against a Dulwich Hamlet XI.

That gave Davis the chance to look at a number of Brickies youngsters and he liked what he saw in a 4-2 victory.

“We’ve got some good young players at the club and we’ve introduced them in training sessions,” said Davis.

“It’s a good job we had them on Friday because we had nine missing.

“We had six teenagers from the reserves who all got minutes on Friday, which is good for them and it’s good for me to have a look at them.

“It was an opportunity to expose them to senior football. If you can’t do that in pre-season, when can you?

“The door’s open for them. We’ve gone with a small squad and there might be opportunities for them. Hopefully we can find the next gem.”

Sittingbourne were due to host Herne Bay last night (Tuesday) and complete their friendly programme at home to Margate on Friday (7.45pm).

Absent first-teamers are all back this week as Sittingbourne wrap up preparations for their Isthmian South East opener at Whitehawk on August 13.

“People are entitled to go on holiday, you’d rather they went away in pre-season than when the season starts,” said Davis.

“It’s a good test playing two sides from the league above, one established at that level in Margate, and Herne Bay, who’ve been promoted.

“We need to be tested, it’s important we’re tested and, to be fair, we were tested by Dulwich.

“They had a young side out but they played some good football and caused us problems.

“That’s us done after Margate and then we’ve got two training sessions, Tuesday and Thursday, for any bits that need ironing out.

“I didn’t want a friendly in the week leading up to the season starting, that’s a bit too close for me.”

Sittingbourne have deliberately kept numbers tight this summer, opting for quality over quantity in their new-look squad.

Davis got most of his work done early and is happy with the players at his disposal.

“Squad-wise, we’re done,” he said. “I’m quite pleased with where we’re at.

“If the season started on Saturday, we’d be in a good place.

“It’s a strong squad - small, but strong.”