STEVE White said he was delighted with his team's spirited performance in his first match at the helm.

He has been tasked with steadying the Bluebirds fast-sinking ship and restoring morale in the team's dressing room, which appeared devoid of confidence in recent performances.

And he appears to have done just that as his sides performance on Saturday against Basingstoke, epitomised the clubs motto of 'pride and passion.'

White said he enjoyed the match and his return to the dressing room, and paid tribute to the hard work of his players in what was a difficult game against a side the Bluebirds crashed out to 41 in a pre-season friendly.

"We didn't quite have the final shot," he said.

"We had 70per cent of the possession in the first half and then they scored against the run of play with a rather fortuitous effort. We were too deep in the second half and didn't take advantage of our extra man.

"Nathan scored a scrappy equaliser, but more importantly we kept our heads up and I think we have got some good players."

White said the team had shown great honesty in the three sessions he has trained with them.

He also described the performance of defender Gareth Davies as outstanding in his first match back since the start of the season. "We pushed him up front in the last 15 minutes and it paid off with the goal," he said.

"There are a lot of young lads in the dressing room and confidence has been low after a few bad results. They were very quiet in the dressing room so we are going to have to jolly them up a bit."

But the manager said he expects he will have to bring in new blood, at least in the short term, to help ease the club's crippling injury list, which includes Danny Bailey and Martin Paul, who were both injured on Saturday, as well as crowd-favourite Adie Mings. He has already approached several managers about the availability of players.

But he said he was also impressed with the performance of home grown youngster Luke Buttery, who came on late as a replacement for the Bluebirds injured skipper Martin Paul.

White also thanked the fans for their support in getting behind him and the team on a miserable, wet day at Hardenhuish Park.

"We had great support and a good turnout considering the weather and at least they got something to cheer about," he said.

"Hopefully if I can build a successful team on the pitch then the fans will come back through the turn styles.

"It's been the same at every football club I have ever been to and I'm sure it will be the same here."