GUISELEY manager Sean St Ledger has praised veteran striker Kayode Odejayi for his influence on the more inexperienced players at the club, but he says that they cannot afford to rely on the former Barnsley forward alone.

St Ledger said: "I think the lads look up to him for what he's done in the game and how he prepares himself for training and matches. He's 36 and you look at the shape he's in, he clearly looks after himself.

"I made him captain because I think he's a leader out on the pitch. But I'm looking for 11 leaders to be on the pitch.

"Hopefully, with Kayode on there, the team can continue to grow."

St Ledger was unhappy about the early dismissal of Lions striker John Rooney in Saturday's 1-1 home draw with local rivals Halifax Town, but the club's appeal saw the red card rescinded on Tuesday.

However, that decision came far too late to influence the outcome of their derby stalemate, and St Ledger lamented the effect that the sending off had on the game.

He admitted: "It was a bad decision from our point of view. It's hard to say whether it cost us three points because you don't know how the game would have gone.

"But I think with the chances that we created, even when we had 10 men, we would have grown on the first-half performance and took the game to them in the second half."

St Ledger has admitted that his side need to take those opportunities, saying: "Our downfall on Saturday was not converting the chances that we had, so this week we'll be working on finishing."

However, the former Republic of Ireland international maintains that the side have constantly improved throughout his tenure and he drew comparisons between their two most recent results.

He said: "Against Bromley we had 10 men and we lost the game. Against Halifax we had 10 men and we drew the game and arguably should have won it.

"In the last 10 minutes we had some really good chances, we hit the post and Dayle (Southwell) and Rowan (Liburd) had opportunities saved.

"In terms of growth and getting better, we're clearly doing that. Hopefully this weekend, we'll continue to work hard, create opportunities and get the three points."

Saturday's away clash with Torquay United could be decisive in the outcome of their season. The Lions are 13 points off safety with only nine games remaining.

However, St Ledger remained positive, saying: "I've spoken about taking each game as it comes. Until it becomes mathematically impossible, we'll keep going.

"The first game is the Torquay one so we'll go into it looking to get three points."