PICKERING Town boss Steve Roberts is happy with what he has seen so far from his side at the start of pre-season.

The Pikes kicked off their preparations for the 2021/22 campaign last Tuesday with a comfortable 6-0 win at local side Ryedale Sports Club.

Jason Barnes got Pickering off the mark against their Beckett League hosts and Tom Alngohuro added a well-taken free kick before half-time.

In the second period, Will Taylor added to three goals shared between two trialists.

Ahead of last night's fixture against Kirkbymoorside, another Beckett League outfit, Roberts revealed he hopes to sign a couple of the trialists.

In all, around 20 outfield players got a run against Ryedale, with a mix of trialists and more established players in each half.

"The most important thing was getting some minutes in the bank for a lot of players," Roberts said.

"Everyone did 45 minutes, one or two did a little more.

"We spoke about getting as much out of them as possible, being on the front foot.

"Some who were only playing for 45 minutes knew that from the start so it was about getting the best out of those 45 minutes.

"I was pleased with the aspects of most players. A lot of them put a real good shift in.

"I was pleased with one or two of the trialists - that's something we'll look at again - and with Tom getting his goal from a good free kick.

"There were a lot of good things to look at.

"Ryedale worked really hard - respect to them, they didn't stop.

"I was adamant that we keep a clean sheet and we did that. I was pleased with the run-out for the first game."

Roberts is also hoping to maintain the links forged with Ryedale and play them again in the future.

"I can't thank them enough, they looked after us really well," he said.

"They made us welcome, put some nice food on for the players after and the game was played in the right way - competitive but nothing went silly.

"As long as I'm doing it, I'll be glad to keep that link going between two local sides."