Weston AFC manager Scott Bartlett hailed the return of Ben Whitehead as a “massive positive” after the forward made his first appearance in 698 days against Bristol City.

Whitehead last appeared for The Seagulls in their 2-0 win at Truro City on August 26, 2019, when he ruptured his anterior crucial ligament (ACL).

And he replaced Jay Murray after 71 minutes of Weston's 3-2 win against The Robins.

Bartlett confirmed Whitehead will feature throughout pre-season and “get some more minutes” on Saturday when they host Swansea City.

“It has taken a long time to get Ben ready to play, his rehab wasn’t helped by Covid but he’s back now and we are looking forward to him being in the group and available for selection,” Bartlett told the Weston Mercury.

“The challenge for myself and the staff is to get him the required amount of minutes while making sure the other strikers also get what they need but we will find a way and it’s a massive positive for him.

“I thought he looked a threat in the short amount he played so it’s good to have him back from both a personal and professional viewpoint.”

Bartlett also praised Dayle Grubb and the impact he had in their victory over City.

The midfielder was named in the starting line-up for the first time this season at Clevedon Town, where he scored the second of Weston’s four goals in a 4-2 win, before marking his 30th birthday on Saturday with two assists, for Sam Avery and Scott Laird, and then scoring the winner from a fantastic free-kick.

“Dayle is getting back to his best, he was good at Clevedon and excellent against City. Him and Lairdy will take some stopping down that side of the pitch,” Bartlett added.

“He is catching up a little bit because he had a period of isolation but we have managed to get two good 90 minutes into him which is pleasing.”

With The Swans set to come to The Optima this Saturday, it will be Weston’s fifth pre-season match, where they have picked up three wins and one draw from their first four friendlies.

“We have had four games in quick succession, so we are looking forward to getting back on the training pitch during the week and preparing properly for Swansea which will be another tough test,” Bartlett said.

“The crowd was great on Saturday and it made for a good atmosphere, I’m sure everyone enjoyed the game and hopefully we can replicate that at home to Swansea and Yeovil.

“We will approach it (Swansea) like we have the others. We are quite settled, we haven’t had in a load of trialists, we have kept it simple, given the majority a lot of minutes and will be as strong as we can be going into the Swansea game.”