Bartlett: Weston AFC won't take games with Harrow Borough and Plymouth Parkway for granted

The Seagulls face a double header over the August Bank Holliday weekend as they first welcome Boro to the Optima Stadium on Saturday before they travel to Devon to take on Parkway at Bolitho Park two days later.

The two sides currently occupy two of the bottom three places, with the pair yet to win after the first four matches.

Weston are in second after three wins and a draw from their first four matches and Bartlett said Harrow will present his side with a 'tough start' to the weekend, while Parkway will be a 'really hard game', but they will go into both matches aware of the challenge in hand.

“(They are) games we won’t take for granted,” he said.

“Harrow have good players and a good manager that always cause a problem, that’s a tough start to the weekend.

“Parkway have blown us and a few other clubs out of the water with a player or two in the summer and have a huge budget. They will be disappointed with their start but it’s a really hard game and the second game in three days for both teams so whoever recovers the best will win that one.”

Weston AFC players huddle before the Southern League Premier South game between Poole Town and Weston on Saturday August 20, 2022, at The BlackGold Stadium, Poole, Dorset. (Image: Ian Middlebrook)

The last time Weston went unbeaten in their first four games was the 2016-17 season.

But a promising start was followed by eight consecutive defeats, rounded off with a loss at lowly North Leigh in the FA Cup which saw manager Ryan Northmore lose his job.

That campaign marked Bartlett’s first in charge of the Seagulls before leaving at the end of the season to become Forest Green Rovers Academy Manager.

He returned in the summer of 2019 and has been at BS24 ever since.

“Previous records, unless they are my own with my team and my players, don't mean anything to me because I can’t reference them,” he added.

“What we have now is a good honest group and that takes time. We are more settled squad than we were at the start of last season.

“Take Lairdy (Scott Laird) for example, who apart from being one of my best mates and a great professional, is one of our best players.

“He is injured and won’t be long but experience told me to go and get Will Tunnicliff, who is hungry to play so we didn't need to move Jordan Bastin, who is on fire along with Grubby (Dayle Grubb), Reuben (Reid) and Marlon (Jackson) in our front four. In simple terms we have carried on from last season.”