Jai Curran-Nicholls took his pre-season tally to two goals in three games with his equaliser at Ashton United on Tuesday night.

Almost a carbon copy of his leveller at Witton Albion at the weekend, the midfielder rose above a crowd of players in the box to head in Alfie Henderson's corner shortly after half time.

Salford went into the break at Hurst Cross a goal down after Luca Navarro had put the NPL side ahead from the penalty spot, but the Australian restored parity early in the second half. Ashton re-took the lead a few minutes later when Darius Osei headed in, however Will Wright's cultured finish made it 2-2.

Having been a regular for the B-Team last season before a loan at Southport, Jai is enjoying being around the men's first team in this early part of pre-season, and he says that practice has paid off when it comes to timing his leaps for headers.

Jai Curran-Nicholls' reflections on pre-season start