FARSLEY boss Adam Lakeland suffered his first competitive defeat as Celts manager on Monday but feels there is plenty to come from his side.

After going five Premier Division games unbeaten in the Evo-Stik League following their promotion via the play-offs last term, former Throstle Nest crowd favourite Damian Reeves netted for Shaw Lane to condemn Farsley to their first meaningful loss under Lakeland and assistant Mark Betts.

But the manager vowed: "I don't think we've seen the best from this group of players yet – nowhere near. The results have been there in the main but in terms of performance, I think there's a lot more to come.

"We've got half of last season's squad and a lot of new signings and it's going to take time for the trust and understanding in certain match situations to build.

"The players were all very committed to pre-season and there is already a bond between the squad but, as the finer things develop, I'm sure that we'll see a big upturn in performances and we will get stronger."

There will also be a boost when two of last season's regulars come back from long-term injury, with midfielder Nathan Turner and forward Jordan Deacey well along the road to full recovery.

Turner has been out longer but he went through an extensive warm-up routine on the pitch before Farsley's 1-0 home win over Rushall Olympic last Saturday.

While the team and substitutes were loosening up and playing one-touch practice games, Turner was doing shuttle runs and sprints.

Lakeland said: "He's been doing that for weeks and his mobility is very good but we think he's probably four weeks away from a return to the squad.

"He's good in terms of physical fitness and he's got good movement twisting and turning in his runs now. But he's had no game time, not even indoors in five-a-side games, so there's been no contact or tackling or anything like that. That's why it'll be a few weeks before he's ready.

"Jordan's ready now – he's recovered from that knee ligament injury and is itching to get going again. The trouble is, apart from the ten minutes he got in the pre-season game against York before he picked up the injury, he hasn't played since the play-off final last May.

"So the only thing between him and a return to the squad is game time in training and we're looking forward to getting both of them back. It'll be like two new signings."