Avro assistant manager Phil Edghill had no complaints after his side’s 2-0 defeat to Wythenshawe Town on Saturday, their first league defeat at the Vestacare Stadium in more than four months, writes Liam Bambridge.

Edghill and manager Alex Frost were announced as the permanent successors to previous incumbents James Hampson and Lee O’Brien the day before the encounter with the FA Vase quarter finalists.

However, their team’s hopes of securing the three points were dealt an early blow when Connor Brotherton fired the visitors in front after just five minutes, and the former Salford City midfielder was characteristically frank in his post match assessment.

“I thought that overall Wythenshawe were better in all departments and so as far as I am concerned, they were worthy winners,” he said.

“We conceded early from a set piece which of course gave them a lift, and we struggled to get into the game after that.’

“At half time we asked the lads to put them under more sustained pressure and as always they left everything out on the pitch, but ultimately they just didn’t have enough left in the tank to really impose themselves on the game.”

Nine of the starting 11 had been involved in the previous Wednesday’s energy-sapping Frank Hannah Manchester Premier Cup semi final against Ashton United, and the prospect of rescuing at least a point from the game receded even further when impressive midfielder Steven Hewitt curled a free kick into the top corner with just over 20 minutes remaining.

“Once that second goal went in, I felt that the game was over as a contest,” admitted Edghill.

Things might still have turned out very differently had the referee spotted a Wythenshawe handball in the area with 10 minutes left, and moments later a terrific effort from Louis Potts was equally well saved by visiting keeper Shaun Rowley. However, overall this was a classy performance by a team who still have designs on that all important second place finish in the NWCL Premier Division.

After a run of midweek fixtures since the turn of the year, Avro now have the luxury of a week to prepare for their trip to Barnoldswick Town on Saturday night, and Edghill revealed that the squad would be putting it to good use.

He said: “It’ll be good to have the opportunity to train on Wednesday rather than playing a match; there are a few things that we’ve spotted recently, areas in which we think that we can improve, and we’ll be working on that really hard before Saturday’s game.”

There will be two new faces at that session, with attackers Matty Chadwick and Lee Grimshaw joining the club in the last seven days.

“Lee impressed us when we played Prestwich a few weeks ago, so we are looking forward to seeing what he can do in what remains of this season,” Edghill added.

“Matty is still getting back to full fitness after missing nearly two years of football with a serious knee injury. He is a genuine match winner who has played at Ashton and Salford previously, and who brings real quality and experience to the squad.”

Meanwhile, goalkeeper Jordan Latham and striker Oumar Camara have left the club, with the latter making his debut for Prestwich Heys in their 1-0 win at Northwich Victoria at the weekend.