Barkingside manager Michael Walther insisted his side will look at the positives after a heart-wrenching penalty shoot-out loss to Basildon United on Monday.

The Blues crashed out of the League Challenge Cup at Cricklefield Stadium, but Walther was happy with the performance his team put in against promotion pushers Basildon.

“It’s obviously not an easy one to take but at the same time to draw with a team who are third in the table and going for promotion is a massive positive,” he said.

“Especially when you consider there was one point before Christmas where we were eight games without a win.”

Barkingside had taken the lead after 36 minutes when Ryan Imbert struck, but they were pegged back in the second half when Marcus Bowers equalised for United.

The hosts then went 3-2 up in the shoot-out, before eventually losing 4-3 to their Essex Senior League rivals.

But Walther believes progress has been made despite his team’s cup exit.

“To be where we are now, with the win on Saturday and the competitiveness we showed against a top team, shows we are making progress,” he added.

Walther is now expecting his young team to capitalise on their progress and to start performing more consistently.

“We had players missing last night but we still produced a really solid performance,” he said.

“I know results aren’t always going to go our way but I expect now to start seeing consistent performances game after game, and then we can push up to mid-table.”

Barkingside now face the task of hosting mid-table Woodford Town in a league game on Saturday afternoon.