BOSS Dave King was pleased with Tividale's performance despite the fact they started their league season with defeat.

Tivi lost 2-0 against Walsall Wood at the Beeches last Saturday.

King is taking heart from the performance and says he won't be dwelling on the result as fixtures continue to come thick and fast.

The Dale are set to go to Brocton on Tuesday night before travelling to Westfield in the FA Cup Preliminary Round this Saturday.

King said: "It is going to be a long season and I won't be judging us until after 10 games or so.

"I was disappointed with the final result against Walsall Wood but not with our performance. We did well at times and can look to build on that.

"We are a young side and we will be inconsistent to start with, but hopefully we can show the right spirit to hit back."

Tividale started the game on the front foot and Matt Jukes had the first decent chance as his first minute header cleared Curtis Pond’s crossbar.

Both sides enjoyed spells with the ball but the game was still goalless at the break.

Walsall’s early second half pressure brought reward on 52 minutes when an Ashley Jackson shot that looked to be covered by keeper Luke Kriskinans took a massive deflection off Tividale right back Tom Hurdman and looped into the opposite side of the goal.

Five minutes later Wood doubled their score with a fine strike from Harry Harris.

With the cushion of a two goal lead, Wood then beefed up the middle of the park with their substitutions. Led by the experienced former Tividale star Sam Williams, they made it difficult for the young home side to get a foothold in the game.

King added: "We had a couple of chances late in the first half that would have changed the game if we'd have taken them. As it was, they got a bit of luck with the deflected goal and that made it difficult for us."

The boss said he could rotate the quad for the Brocton game. Liam Morris, who missed the Walsall defeat, is now available again.