The loss of defender Ryan Sellers for the first month of the season is a "blow" to Wealdstone's flexibility, manager Gordon Bartlett admitted after they signed off pre-season with a 4-2 win over Hitchin Town.

The defender was ruled out of the game in Hertfordshire after a scan revealed he had suffered ankle ligament damage, and will miss around a month of first-team action.

In his absence, the Stones sewed up a comfortable victory against a side who were only denied a place in this season's National League South after losing in the Southern Premier Division play-offs in 2016/17.

Abobaker Eisa has been in red-hot form for the Stones during pre-season and added another goal to his name with a confident finish beyond Michael Johnson to open the scoring.

Liam Brooks levelled up after the ball was cheaply given away in midfield after half-time, but Mutsafa Tiryaki restored the lead with a free-kick.

Another poor piece of defending saw Josh Hill concede a penalty which was fired home by Ben Walster, only for Danny Green and Dan Fitchett to give the Stones victory in the final 20 minutes.

"What we have done is had eight games, won five, drawn two and lost one. If we can have that in the first eight league games I’ll be happy," Bartlett said.

"Pre-season has been really good except for the last week where availability has cost us. We had five people missing against Hampton and Richmond and four on Saturday, either through being away, injured or ill.

"Losing Ryan Sellers is a blow because he looks like he will be out for a month. We could use a new formation with him, and that's blown that out of the water."

The Stones will operate with a smaller squad this season than they did during the last campaign, a decision Bartlett says is a conscious one as they look to mount a promotion push at Grosvenor Vale.

"We’ve opted for a smaller squad this year, which we sat down with the board to decide over the summer.

"There’s a couple of players we would have liked to have got over the line. The nucleus from last year is there though, and we’ve got a few additions too.

"Even with those problems, we have been nice and solid generally. The disappointment on Saturday was we gave both goals away cheaply. We’ve got to be better, but we’ve scored 10 goals on the last two Saturdays.

"Pre-season has been good, but that means nothing come Saturday. Concord went to Barnet and won there at the weekend, and that’s a team two leagues above them.

"But for us, there’s a little bit of flexibility but we want to be adaptable, which is not something I felt comfortable with las season. I think we’re more established and there’s more competition but there’s still room for improvement."