While Avenue have been signing players en masse over the past couple of weeks, locally-grown pros-pect Tom Greaves - the club's leading scorer - has been quietly getting on with his job.

Greaves, who has watched players come and go at an alarming rate, said: "It's been a difficult, long season playing alongside so many different players. We haven't had time to gel."

Greaves has amassed 13 goals, despite not always being first-choice striker.

"The first ten or so matches I was not in the side so yes I'm surprised to have scored so many goals really," he said.

"Hopefully we can stay up this season and then my aim is to keep my shirt for the next campaign. Confidence is a big part of football and if you are out of the side, or as a striker, you don't find the net, it can harm your game.

"But when you score again, the confidence comes back."

After a purple patch earlier this season, when Greaves was banging in goals for fun, Avenue put their young striker on a contract.

What immediately followed was a barren patch! "These things happen," said Greaves, "but I have scored in games since then so it is not a problem and my head is back up again.

"I would love to get into the full-time game but I am happy here at Avenue. The UniBond Premier Division is a high level of football. It is a tough league to play in with a lot of big, uncompromising centre halves to play against.

"You don't get a lot of time to dwell on the ball - defenders are always in your back with the elbow."

Greaves says he has had two games which will stick in the memory this season. Both were against local rivals in which he scored crucial goals - the league victories over Farsley Celtic and Guiseley.

"I scored twice in both games," said the striker. "The 95th-minute winner against Farsley was special. And I don't live far from Guiseley's ground so it was nice to do well there as well."