Lee Bullock column

The new manager has shown he’s not worried about throwing in the youngsters, whatever the score.

The injuries have hit us again, like they did earlier in the season. We’ve lost key players and, with the squad now a bit shorter than it was, that has made things difficult.

But it’s been a great opportunity for the younger lads coming in and they haven’t let anyone down.

The gaffer’s arrival has given everyone a fresh start and he’s quite happy to blood youngsters. Ryan Harrison made his debut a couple of weeks ago and Luke Dean came on Tuesday night and did very well, helping to set up our second goal.

Jonny McLaughlin is a bit older but in terms of experience he hasn’t played that much before. But he has also come in and been absolutely brilliant. He’s a big lad who uses his height and is confident at catching crosses.

Leon Osborne is another who got his chance this week and I thought he looked dangerous going forward. And we also have Phil Cutler, one of the YTS lads, on the bench, which was good experience.

It’s a good thing but again it made some of us feel very old. Before the game, there was Adam Bolder and me in the dressing room with a load of the younger lads. We got asking how old they all were – 19, 20, 18, 20, 21… it was frightening!

But it’s also good to see and you know that young lads will give the team lots of running. Up front, in particular, we had real speed.

Evo worked himself into the ground, as he always does, and didn’t give them a second as he chased down defenders. Leon and Granty just love to run at their men and their pace gave Morecambe a lot of problems.

I also thought the pitch was better because it had dried out. The groundsman has been working hard on it and we were able to knock the ball around more.

I’m sure the surface will stand up fine to another game on Saturday and hopefully we can build on the midweek win. Barnet are below us but we’ve struggled at home against teams lower down in the table.