WEYMOUTH boss Bobby Wilkinson believes Poole Town’s 1-0 friendly win over the Terras was their "cup final”.

Wilkinson’s men lost for the first time in five pre-season outings thanks to Tony Lee’s eighth-minute strike against a club he left on the eve of the 2018/19 season.

An entertaining friendly featured big chances not taken at both ends, with Weymouth goalkeeper Gerard Benfield busier than counterpart Luke Cairney.

Wilkinson’s assessment, however, was that Poole cared more about the result than Weymouth, who he argued were simply topping up match minutes.

He told Echosport: “It was a very good performance from us, we played very well.

READ MORE: Poole Town 1-0 Weymouth - report

“I just wish we were a little more clinical in front of goal. I’m really pleased we made the chances.

“Two tough games back-to-back and we got what we needed out of the friendly. It’s all about minutes and it was a tough friendly.

“It was Poole’s cup final, it was so noticeable. They’ve got to do what’s right for them.

“For us, it was preparing for the season ahead. Making sure we got minutes, making sure we could compete in back-to-back games.

“The gameplan worked for us. It’s not about results for me. It was for Poole, I have no qualms about that.”

Wilkinson added two new players to his ranks, ex-captain Josh McQuoid and new left-back Cameron Green, for the opening 45 minutes.

On McQuoid, who in April announced his diagnosis with a rare form of cancer, Wilkinson said: “At the moment he’s in training with us and I love having him around.

“He’s such a good player. I’ve known Josh for many years but we’ve got to monitor him because he’s going through some things behind the scenes.

“We’ve got to protect him, but he’s been a pleasure to work with so far.”

Wilkinson stressed McQuoid is unsigned and Weymouth will assess the forward on a game-by-game basis in pre-season.

Green is also unsigned and was drafted in as cover for Nelson Iseguan, who has a minor hamstring strain.

“Cam hasn’t played at a high level for the last year or so,” Wilkinson stressed.

“But he’s been on trial at Boreham Wood and didn’t quite make the grade. I thought we’d have a little look at him and see where we go from there.”

On Iseguan’s injury, Wilkinson added: “He’s got a little strain on his hammy, it’s nothing too much.

“(Not playing him) was a precaution again because we don’t want too many out and we want to keep competition high.

“We’ve got four or five with little knocks but we’re managing them and making sure they’re not long-term.

“That’s not a bad thing because it meant other players got more minutes in them.”

Weymouth’s next friendly comes at Poole’s fellow Southern League side Swindon Supermarine on Saturday (3pm).