ALBION SPORTS manager Kulwinder Sandhu accepts there is one positive which his squad's long injury list has brought – the chance to blood youth.

The Lions boss has never had qualms about playing youngsters, though he admits the current situation has not allowed him to pick and choose those times in the way he'd like.

He said: “I’ve always been a great believer in giving youth a chance and we have some good youngsters at the club. It's part of Albion Sports’ DNA.

“Ever since the club was formed we have encouraged young players to join us and we’ve helped them break into the game. It’s just been a bit too much of a fast track for some of these lads at the moment.

“This is a tough league, full of big and experienced players and you have to be careful bringing young lads into the team.

"If you get it right you know which players can cope with it and will gain from the experience. Also you have to identify the ones that it might be too early for.

“When you’re putting a young side out you’ll get a lot of energy but you’ll also get a lot of mistakes. Some players will make mistakes and go forward and learn from them, some will lose a lot of confidence and it could harm their development.”

Managing a semi-professional club is always a balancing act. Former Farsley Celtic and Bradford Park Avenue boss Lee Sinnott always referred to it as ‘plate-spinning’.

Sandhu has a lot of plates to keep in the air and he knows that if he doesn’t stay up to the task, everything will come crashing down.

He said: “We had a great first half to the season and we were challenging. We’ve had a lot of injuries since. I’ve never had the same back four or five when you think about the goalkeeping situation this season.

“You need some stability and you only get that with older heads, leaders on the pitch, and at the moment we don’t have that.

"But we’re in a comfortable position in the league because of the points we banked early on, so it’s a good time to bring these young lads in. We’re still competing so it will be good for the club in the long run.”