MARLOW manager Mark Bartley is pleased at how quickly his new-look team has gelled together over the summer.

Bartley decided to take decisive action after being disappointed at his side's leaky defence last season, following promotion from the Hellenic League the year before.

Aside from a 3-0 defeat at Flackwell Heath on Saturday the Blues boss has been pleased with the performances he's witnessed in Marlow's eight game pre season campaign.

Bartley said: "I'm pretty pleased with the effort overall, with the new players integrating really well at this juncture.

"I'm pleased with what I've brought in. The boys who have joined have all settled really well and have done what they've been asked.

"I'm genuinely not concerned with the results at this time of the season but with certain players on Saturday we didn't get out of them what we needed. There's a little bit of disappointment in a number of individuals from Saturday but I'd rather it happened then than this Saturday coming."

Marlow finished last season in 17th place and Bartley said something had to give if they're to improve on that this time around.

He said: "We weren't good enough defensively last year. We conceded too many soft goals and that was definitely something I wanted to improve straight away.

"We relied quite heavily on Jon Bennett to score goals for us last season. If we didn't have him we'd have been in a bit of a struggle for goals, so I've been looking to improve the quality in the final third.

"I'd like us to be in mid table this year and gradually build on what we did last year. We have to be aiming to improve on last season and I think we are capable of doing it."

Marlow kick off the season away to Godalming Town tomorrow before starting their home campaign against Leighton Town on Tuesday.