FRANK Gray backed new signing Jahson Downes to have a good season in the Blue Square South after seeing the striker give Sutton United plenty of problems in Basingstoke Town’s opening pre-season game.

Saturday’s friendly fixture at the Camrose ended in a 1-1 draw, the home side equalising with an own-goal in the final five minutes after Sutton had taken the lead from the penalty spot.

However, it was the performance of Downes, who has joined the club after being released by Reading, that will give Town supporters most heart going forward.

“He will be a threat,” Gray said. “He showed glimpses of that today and he will do well for us this season.”

The teenager showed some nice touches throughout the game but really came alive in the final 20 minutes, when he was switched from the right wing and given the chance to show what he can do in attack.

Once there, he troubled the Sutton defence with his pace and skill, hit a bullet of a shot from the edge of the area that went narrowly over the bar and showed his ability to drop off and link the play.

Gray added: “He looked a better player when he went up front, and we know where we are going to end up playing him, but we needed to get games into other players as well.”

Gray also took a number of other positives from Saturday’s performance but added that there are plenty of areas to work on.

The Town manager was pleased to be able to see his players on the field and happy that the game will have helped them build on their fitness levels.

“We just told them to get a feel for the ball, to get used to playing again,” Gray said. “At times the passing was ok, at other times it wasn’t, but that’s what you expect.

“If I was satisfied today there would be nothing to work on. There were a lot of positive things but there are also things we need to improve.”

One area that Gray was pleased with was his side’s performance in the closing stages, something he puts down to switching from 4-3-3 to 4-4-2.

“We did get better but I think it was less to do with going behind and more to do with changing the formation,” the manager added.

“They just looked more comfortable when we switched to 4-4-2.”

Gray has tied up the future of Sean Hankin, who has put pen to paper on a new one-year deal, while Lewis Christon, Matt Finlay, Jide Ogunbote, Ian Jones and Adam Aimable have all signed on non-contract terms, with Ryan Stephens expected to follow suit.

However, the future of Ross Kitteridge, who played in goal on Saturday, remains up in the air.

“He is still keeping his options open and would like to stay full-time but if that does not happen for him, he could be back,” Gray explained.

“We used two other ’keepers in a training game that we played on Thursday and have others coming in next week but if Ross is available, he would be our first choice.”

Town have arranged a friendly match against Carshalton Athletic, which will take place at the Camrose on July 21 (kick-off 7.45pm).