The Bognor boss was reasonably pleased with the performance of the new-look side in Tuesday night's 4-2 defeat to Brighton.

But he said it had showed that he, assistant Andy Awford and coach Darin Killpartrick still had a long way to go before they had a squad capable of holding their own, or better, in the Conference South.

Jenkins has already identified two areas that need strengthening: the positions of goalkeeper and the strikeforce. He is happy with the way his defence and midfield are shaping up.

The Rocks fielded a staggering 14 new players for some or all of the game, and there were another three new faces unused on the bench.

Ex-Pompey defender Dave Waterman is recovering from an operation but is hoping to be fit to play in the next friendly – at home to Eastbourne on Saturday (2pm).

And Jenkins is hopeful they will have two or three other potential signings on board by then as well.

He said the job of moulding a good-enough squad would go on for some time yet.

Latest to be added to the list of players keen to appear for the Rocks include former Eastleigh captain Danny Smith, who is a holding midfield player, ex-Farnborough centre-half Jamie Whisken, released Southampton academy winger Josh Dutton-Black, teenage Oxford United striker Alex Fisher – who marked his debut with a long-range goal – and freed Torquay defender Paul Hinshelwood.

Jenkins said: "We've not finished putting together the squad yet – not by a long way.

"We're pleased with who we've got together so far in a short space of time, but there's a long way to go.

"There are quite a number of other quality players who we're interested in and who we may get.

"Some we will, some we probably won't, but we're confident of getting the right balance."

Jenkins said the club wanted to do more than just survive this season, but he felt fans would be realistic in giving the side time to gel and start to get wins under their belts.

"We need more strengthening yet. We're probably still short up front and in goal.

"We were naive defensively a couple of times against Brighton, but you have to remember this was our first game and it was Brighton's third or fourth.

"Playing Eastbourne on Saturday will be a better test of how far we've come and how far we've got to go."

Assistant boss Awford told the Observer: "We want to bring in more players who can take us up another notch. But I was encouraged."

Don't forget you can get all the Rocks match reports first at www.bognor.co.uk