BRIAN Pritchard believes Witton Albion’s players can be calm after recording a first league win of the season at Workington.

Neil Harvey’s double secured a merited 2-1 success in Cumbria, helping avoid a repeat of last term’s starting sequence that stretched to three successive defeats.

“We can now put behind us a poor week,” said the Witton manager.

“I’ve not been worried, but I know as a player that a bit of self-doubt can grow if you don’t get a result when you’ve been expected to.

“We’re off the mark. It’s a start, a building block if you like.

“The challenge now is to add another against Marine on Monday.”

After back-to-back reverses against Ilkeston and then Rushall Olympic, Pritchard made several positional changes.

Michael Powell played for the first time this term in midfield, with Anthony Gardner alongside him.

Teenage defender Zac Corbett switched to defence as a partner for Ben Harrison after captain Sam Barnes failed a fitness test on his injured hamstring.

Meanwhile Cliff Moyo resumed his customary position at full back.

Pritchard said: “We had to adjust, but did it well.

“Michael Powell came to be and said he wanted to play. He’s done so with an injury, but that’s evidence of his attitude and the sort of person we want at the club.

“There was plenty of fight on show, which was the best thing for me to see.

“We still need to sharpen up, and playing on such a dry pitch made it difficult for both teams to pass fluidly. It was a bit of a grind at times, but we got our reward.”

He saved praise for Scott Bakkor, who has scored or played a part in each of Witton’s four goals during the campaign’s opening seven days.

The forward’s assist for Harvey, following a dazzling dribble past two retreating defenders, was a highlight of Albion’s afternoon.

“Scott was outstanding,” added Pritchard.

“He’s told us afterwards he was disappointed with his performance. What summed up his day was a 70-yard sprint to stop one of their attacks on the edge of our penalty area.

“And that wasn’t the only time he did it.”

To read a report on Saturday’s game, click here: http://bit.ly/1pt80aR