Boss Steve Burr was remaining upbeat after seeing his side come out on the wrong end of an 'exciting' 4-3 defeat at the hands of Southport on Tuesday night.

Michael Briscoe struck for the hosts after just five minutes with a fantastic effort that got Aggborough rocking, but last term's Blue Square North Champions were not to be out-done and a fine performance by the dominant Matty McNeil saw them go 4-2 up at once stage in the second half.

A debut goal for Marc Williams saw the deficit pulled back to just a single goal, Harriers then perhaps harshly denied by a linesman's flag as the front man had looked to have had levelled matters with his second.

It was a thrilling and at times surreal return to football at Aggborough Stadium and, speaking after the game, Burr remained happy with his resurgent young side.

"Overall I was pleased that we kept going and the lads showed a lot of resilience," he said.

"It is early days for us here but I enjoyed watching how the lads have played tonight.

"Although we haven't come away with the right result, I think there are good signs there that although this is going to be a tough season for us, there are exciting players playing for Harriers.

"Roll on Saturday now and we'll look forward to it."

Three of Southport's goals came from moves involving set pieces with the other a contentious penalty.

A case of self-inflicted wounds for Harries, then, with the gaffer admitting: "We knew the strengths of Southport - we knew they would go long and batter us with throws and it was just a question tonight of trying to deal with their set plays.

"Unfortunately three of the goals have come from throw-ins [so] we have to do better at set-plays."