Buxton boss Craig Elliott happy to gain first point, despite late Boston United equaliser

The Bucks have had a glut of pre-season injuries, losing captain Josh Granite after just 10 minutes of the friendly against Macclesfield and then also losing stand in skipper Luke Shiels after half an hour on Saturday, to take the early injury list to six.

Buxton led through a 58th minute goal by new signing Jordan Burrow in front of a 1,072 crowd, but were pegged back by Boston in the fourth of eight added minutes.

Elliott said: “It was disappointing to concede so late on and we deserved to win the game.

"We dominated for long periods, especially in the first half.

“But fair play to Boston, they came on strong in the last 10-15 minutes.

“This new rule on injury time saw a lot of time to play, but in the end I'm quite happy to get of the mark and get the first point of the season.

“It's been a really tough week to be honest.

"Behind the scenes we have had a lot of injuries to key players and we had a lot of players out there against Boston who've not had a pre-season.

“I do take a bit of blame. We should maybe have had one more pre-season friendly to just get the lads topped up.

“I can't really do anything but praise the players today, having overcome a lot of obstacles, and again losing the captain today for the second time this week. And we were playing against a Boston team who are effectively full time and a big time.

“So I am really happy with the way we've gone and we will only get better.

“I thought there were some really big performances today and our right side looked really strong. The midfield three put a really good shift in – I could go on. I think everybody did really well.

“In the end I am just happy to get a point and move on really

“The season is up and running and fingers crossed we can get some of them back in time for our next game.”

After Shiels left the field, replacement Max Hunt slotted in alongside Jake Hull forming what must be the tallest central defensive partnership in the league, both standing around six feet six.

The full list of debutants against Boston featured Max Dearnley, Sam Minihan, Luke Shiels, Sam Smart, Curtis Weston, Zaine Francis-Angol and Jordan Burrow, plus Max Hunt, Nathan Newall and Xander McBurnie from the bench.

Also, Jake Hull returned on loan from Rotherham United.

Sam Minihan, from FC Halifax Town and ex-young player of the year at Stockport County, Zaine Francis-Angol, most recently with Oldham Athletic and former Tottenham Hotspur trainee, and Xander McBurnie, a previous Weymouth captain, signed in the days leading up to Saturday's opener.

With no midweek game, Buxton next travel to Brackley Town on Saturday, kick-off 3pm, who drew 1-1 in their opener at Chorley, hoping to see some of the injured sextet available again by then.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​