TAUNTON Town host Yate Town tonight (ko 7.45pm), eager to bounce back from Saturday's opening day defeat.

The Peacocks went down 3-0 at Gosport Borough, with two of the goals coming after Ollie Chamberlain was sent off for two bookings.

Taunton boss Dray told the County Gazette: “I don’t think [3-0] was a true reflection of the game.

“We were playing against the wind in the first half, and I was relatively happy to go in at 1-0 [at half-time].

“I felt we were just getting back into the game [before the red card] – we made the change [bringing Matt Wright on] and were on top for 15 minutes.

“They [Gosport] were good though, they’re a good team.

“We’ve no right to win games, and we had too many not doing the basics right.

“But we’ll take this result and move on to the next one."

Yate, who were promoted to Premier Division South via the play-offs last season, also suffered defeat on Saturday – 4-1 at home to Blackfield & Langley, with former Peacock Olly Mehew scoring their consolation goal.

Yate's last match at Wordsworth Drive, back in September 2017, saw them win 4-1 – but they later had the points deducted for fielding an ineligible player.

On tonight's opposition, Dray said: "They have some really good young lads, and have brought in some experienced players.

"We need to beware a wounded animal, as Paul Britton [Yate's manager] will expect a reaction from his lads as I do from mine."

Defender Jamie Price returns from suspension to take his place in the Taunton squad, while midfielder Ryan Brett – who missed all of pre-season with a knee injury – is expected to be named on the bench as Dray looks to get him back up to match sharpness, at an incremental rate.

You can follow tonight's match as it happens with our live blog on countygazette.co.uk/sport.