STEVE Pitt insists he is pleased overall with the progress being made so far as he carries out a complete team rebuild of his Braintree Town squad, writes DAVID WARD.
The Iron’s new-look squad lost 3-2 at Aveley in their latest pre-season friendly, on Saturday.
Pitt said: “I’m excited at the number of impressive new players on show and their commitment, desire to work hard for one another even though there’s still a great deal of work to do.
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“The players are delivering the way we want to play and they are all keen, hungry and desperate to stay focus on our aims.”
Braintree fell to defeat at Aveley in the third of eight pre-season friendlies.
But forget the final scoreline because manager Pitt played potentially the backbone of his new-look starting 11 for the first hour, during which they dominated the game.
📸 Matchday gallery from our friendly against Aveley https://t.co/RGhu6cxwLJ #IronArmy | Forged in 1898 pic.twitter.com/AWMyaWPUwy
— Braintree Town FC (@braintreetownfc) July 19, 2026
They scored two goals and should have had many more, with the chances created.
Pitt said: “I’m disappointed because we should have been at least three or four goals ahead with the amount of chances we had.
“We played some good football, pressing the game all the while and looked threatening every time we went forward with some excellent passing and quick movement from all the players and we were so comfortable on the ball.
“As planned we changed the entire side on the hour so we could look at other players but I was disappointed we gave away two sloppy goals.
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“But these games are all about giving players actual playing time whilst not overloading them bearing in mind we now three quick games coming up in this next week alone.”
Goals from Fin Adams after 10 minutes and a penalty from Anisus Lewis on 35 minutes gave the Iron a 2-1 lead.
They should have been 4-1 up by the time the Braintree side was completely changed on the hour.
NEXT MATCH!
The Iron take on Cambridge United in a behind closed doors friendly tomorrow lunchtime#IronArmy | Forged in 1898 pic.twitter.com/afPrDYBvS4— Braintree Town FC (@braintreetownfc) July 19, 2026
Among the impressive trialists on show for Iron was goalkeeper Harry Griffiths, 21, who is currently on the books of Notts County, along with a speedy winger who was previously with Southend United.
Braintree next have a behind closed doors game at Cambridge United on Monday, which will see them play 30 minutes each way.
That is followed by a full 90-minute game against Jermain Defoe’s Woking at Cressing Road on Tuesday (kick-off 7.45pm), followed by another home game on Saturday against Colchester United.
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