Yeovil 0 Derby County 2

The Glovers went down 2-0 to Championship outfit Derby County at Huish Park last night. It was a decent enough game, reasonably competitive for a pre-season friendly, and I guess both managers would have been encouraged by some of the things they saw. As for me, I thought I'd do a DNB, which as regulars on the green room will know does not necessarily entail walking around with a whippet on a piece of string, or mumbling 'trouble at t'mill' or 'hey oop' at odd intervals (though all those things are possible); no, doing a DNB in a green room context means awarding marks to the players, as follows:

1. Alex McCarthy - 7/10. Big tall fella, good shot stopper on last night's evidence and a massive kick, though his distribution wasn't always accurate. Worth another look.

2. Craig Alcock - 6/10. Typically average performance, some good things, some not so good. Solid enough.

4. Steven Caulker - 7/10. Bloody hell, this boy's a monster! If he's that big at 17 god knows what he's going to be like in 10 years time. Very impressive anyway, good in the air and on the deck and a good range of passing. Seemed to strike up a decent partnership with Stam.

5. Stefan Stam (Capt) - 6/10. My first glimpse of our new team skipper and I was reasonably impressed. Another tall defender as you might expect, did his job at the back and marshalled the defence well. Perhaps tried one ambitious pass too many at times for comfort.

3. Nathan Jones - 7/10. Played well. Combined nicely down the left with Andy Welsh and was a threat going forward. Great back-up to have for Nathan Smith and an example to the rest of the team in terms of fitness and enthusiasm.

8. Aidan Downes - 5/10. Bit of an up-and-down performance on the right. Provided one cracking chance which Tomlin should have taken, but too many crosses didn't get past the first defender. Didn't beat his full-back once that I remember, and didn't look awfully fit either, though that might be just his body-shape. More to come, hopefully.

6. George O'Callaghan - 6/10. Long, lanky streak of piss in central midfield who looks like a puff of wing would blow him over - but appearances can be deceptive. Put himself about well, stronger than he looked and competed well even though he and Murtagh were outnumbered in the middle. Good on the ball and always looking for that killer pass, even though they didn't quite come off last night. Definitely worth another look.

7. Keiran Murtagh - 6/10. Lots of energy, put himself about and tried to get forward, much more so than last season. Decent performance.

9. Andy Welsh - 6/10. Quiet at first, gradually came more into the game as time went on. Biggest threat came from set-pieces. More to come.

10. Gavin Tomlin - 5/10. Not his best game. Missed one sitter as provided by Downes and didn't seem on the same wavelength as Williams. Early days yet for that partnership however.

11. Sam Williams - 6/10. Marked him down a point for missing a penalty, but apart from that I was impressed. Good in the air, strong, led the line well and (cliche alert!) a good touch for a big man. Looking forward to seeing more of him.

Subs: 13. Richard Martin (60 mins for Alex McCarthy) - 5/10. Couldn't really blame him for either of the goals, but didn't have the same sheer presence in goal as his predecessor. Harsh to judge on one 30-minute appearance, but on this performance no better than Wagenaar. Yikes.

14. Paul Terry (82 mins for Craig Alcock) - N/A. Not on for long enough to make an impression.

15. Terrell Forbes (60 mins for Steven Caulker) - 5/10. Didn't look hugely interested in proceedings and distribution from back went downhill after he came on.

16. Danny Hutchins (60 mins for Nathan Jones) - 5/10. Didn't look entirely comfortable on the left, more to come from him I'm sure.

17. Gary Roberts (60 mins for George O'Callaghan) - 7/10. Typical all-action performance. Worked hard from box-to-box and put himself about as we've come to expect. Could be a very important player for us this season, if he can control himself on and off the field. Fingers crossed.

18. Danny Schofield (46 mins for Keiran Murtagh) - 4/10. Wants a transfer, and it showed.

19. Ryan Mason (46 mins for Gavin Tomlin) - 5/10. Tried hard but didn't quite get into the game, mainly because the supply from midfield had dried up by the time he got on. Good with the ball at his feet, obviously a lot more to come from him.

20. Dean Bowditch (60 mins for Sam Williams) - 5/10. Same as applies to Mason really, except he looked better in the air. Worth another look.

Kevin Gall (77 mins for Aidan Downes) - N/A. Not enough time to make an impression.

Ross Stearn (77 mins for Andy Welsh) - N/A. As above.

All in all a good workout for the squad. Disappointing that Scott Murray still isn't fit, let's hope he's not this season's Mark Bircham. We were competitive with Derby in the first half and could easily have gone into the break in the lead if Tomlin had made more of a very good chance made by Downes. We lost our way however after the substitutions on the 60 minute mark and in the end Derby could have scored a couple more than they did. As far as our style of play was concerned we appeared to be trying to play at a faster tempo than last season and were getting the ball forward quicker. The defence didn't seem as deep and the midfield as a whole looked to be getting forward more. Gavin Tomlin seemed to be playing further forward too, as a genuine second striker rather than as an attacking midfielder.

As for the opposition, I wasn't hugely impressed. Obviously as individuals certain players looked a cut above ours, but you would expect that from a club a division higher. Derby were solid and efficient enough, but didn't look to have that much creative spark about them. I'd be surprised to see them doing anything better than mid-table next season.

And having said all that, one should never read too much into what happens in friendly matches. They bear no comparison to the real thing and players that can look like world-beaters in the pre-season can just as easily fade away to nothing when the proper stuff comes along. Still, any football is better than none. Dorchester away are up next this Saturday, followed by TBCUTR at Huish Park next Tuesday. Hopefully by then the squad will be more or less settled for the coming season. It will need to be.