THE squad at Worcester City is the strongest I have worked with and it has tremendous strength in depth.

At most clubs you will have one or two players making the numbers up but we have got 18 players and everyone of them has played a crucial part this season.

When I first became manager we had 12 or 13 players and then we were filling the bench with youngsters. But we have tried to improve things and now we have got to the stage when we have 18 very good footballers.

They are great lads and they’ve all got superb attitudes and application, it’s a pleasure to be around them.

You can also factor the backroom team into that as well with the likes of assistant manager Matt Gardiner, physio Lawson Mayor and his deputy Martin Obrey, they are all great blokes and we are a close knit team. As well as being a strong squad, we have a strong back-up team too.

We have found a nice balance, are not overloaded in certain positions and there’s competition for places.

Nobody has a gripe if they are left out and have to wait for their opportunity. We try to be fair to them all and I haven’t had any moans or complaints which is superb.

When you play Saturday-Monday or Saturday-Tuesday, fatigue can set in and you can pick up injuries.

If that happens you have to have faith that the player coming in can do a job and doesn’t weaken the team. Take Tuesday’s match at Solihull Moors for example.

Central defender Lee Ayres came on for Jacob Rowe and that was the first time he has played since the last 20 minutes at Bradford Park Avenue in August.

It was also keeper Matt Sargeant’s first game since pre-season. All they have done is trained — and they have trained well — so you have to give them credit.

It took Lee five minutes to settle down at the start of the second-half but, alongside Stuart Whitehead, he did a fine job and I can’t recall Solihull having a shot on target.

It’s not easy to just slot into the team and put in a faultless performance but they have done that and there are others as well. Charlie Reece and Matt Breeze both came in on Tuesday and both had super games.

However, it’s easier to do it when you are in a good side that’s used to winning and has had a good start to the season. Integrating players becomes easier because confidence levels are up.

I have told the players that I need them to give me selection problems and they are doing that because any combination of that 18 are competent and can go and win a game.

It didn’t concern me at all by swapping it around on Tuesday because I know what quality we’ve got. Hopefully we will have everyone available again for Saturday’s FA Cup trip to Weston-super-Mare.