Trevor Sinclair can’t wait for second season with Lancaster City

The Lancaster City assistant boss has seen a young side undergo a fine upturn in fortunes in the second half of the season.

Now after an 11th-placed finish in the Evo-Stik First Division North Darren Peacock’s men look in good shape for a run at the play-offs when things start all over again in August.

Sinclair said: “We had a lot of difficult games in the run in and weren’t a million miles away.

“We competed against the big boys and held our own.

“We’ll be back in nice and early for pre-season to try and get our team spirit and togetherness going again because that’s been key.

“The young lads are a year older, the belief is there and they know what it’s like to play against men.

“We passed teams off the pitch at times towards the end of the season.

“We struggled a bit up front with Killer (Tom Kilifin) injured and (Aaron) Taylor unavailable and with them we could have won a few more games.

“I’m excited about the season coming.”

It was most certainly a season of two halves for the Dolly Blues with the struggles of the first half of the season now a distant memory.

The former England winger said: “It was one step forwards and two steps back at the start of the season.

“It was about mental strength of the players and that had to come from me and Darren.

“It was about knowing that when you go 1-0 down there’s still plenty to play for.

“But as a young squad they didn’t do that up until Christmas.

“Literally on the turn of the year the penny dropped though and we were not just difficult to beat but difficult to score against.

“It’s a big compliment to all the lads for working so hard.

“They got their rewards and if we’d gone on the run a little bit sooner we could have even got a play-off place.”

Sinclair has quickly become part of the fabric at Giant Axe and says he has enjoyed life in the Northern Premier League.

The 42-year-old said: “The coaching side wasn’t a shock it was more the things not on the field that I had to get my head round.

“Players having work commitments and things like that.

“But it’s been an absolute joy, I’ve really enjoyed it.

“It’s been great building up relationships with the players and getting to know them and their families and friends.”