Although his side are down battling in the relegation zone, Squires Gate manager Dave McCann is backing his young players to get the club out of trouble.

The Gate squad is heavily based on youth, but Dave has no doubts that it's a policy that will bear fruit for the club in the long term.

"We are not a big club with a lot of finance, so I believe youth is the way forward for us", he said.

"We have an excellent link with Myerscough College (near Preston), which is one of the reasons why we have so many young players, and this league is a good platform for them to learn. The more experience they get, the better they will be.

"I'd like to have a few more experienced players in the side that could help lead and influence the younger lads during a game, but it's not easy finding the right players to do this. Danny Penswick has done this superbly recently and I could do with one or two more like him.

"But I'm enjoying working with the lads we've got, and I'm sure we have enough quality to see us to safety. We have just had three players recognised at international level - Joe Noblet has been named in the English Colleges FA national squad, and Charlie Russell and Michael Hampson are in the English Schools squad, so that gives an indication of the quality of player we have".

One of the challenges that Dave is addressing is adapting the team's playing style to suit the weather conditions at the moment, given that his footballing philosophy is based around a passing and possession game.

"When we get to this stage of the season and the pitches are heavy, maybe we find it a bit tougher than at the start of the season", he admitted. "But when the weather gets better and the pitches get better, our passing game will shine through a bit more.

"I'm not blaming the pitches we have played on recently, but we train on 3G and have a good playing surface at Squires Gate, so when the weather isn't so good we have adapt our game a bit, and go a bit more direct than we are used to".

In the meantime, Dave is happy to keep faith in his young squad, many of whom are in their first season at this level of football and still learning 'on the job'.

"We have to remember that we are still a fairly new team, still gelling together and still learning the trade", he said. "I do feel that this group of players will have enough to see us through this season, and then we can assess and see where we go after that.

"But for now, the lads are giving 100%, I can't have any complaints on that front, and we have a good starting point for progressing and moving forward.

"I believe we will keep improving, and I know that if the lads continue to work hard and learn, they'll have a bright future ahead of them".