LAUNCESTON boss Neil Price expects the Clarets to comfortably finish outside of the bottom three despite currently propping up the SWPL Premier West table.

The Pennygillam outfit have had a nightmare start to the season having amassed just six points from their opening 14 league games, but there have been mitigating factors.

And with ten of those being played away from home due to floodlight issues back in August, there is plenty to play for, particularly with three of the top four having visited.

The former Watford defender admitted it’s been challenging.

He said: “I’ve been involved in football and been a manager for a long time, but I’ve never known an injury, suspension and unavailability list like it.

“I’ve had Carl Aldridge deployed to Germany, James Close get a job with Bristol City, Mark Wilson move to St Blazey, Declan Woodgate retire and Lewis Slade is taking a break from the game, plus a whole host of injuries and suspensions.

“So I can’t lie it’s been really really tough. We’ve talked about whether we stick to our principles regarding young players, and yes we do, but when you’ve got a lot of young players in this situation it makes it difficult.

“If we had played against Penzance on Saturday we’d have been as strong as we had been for a while, so we certainly would rather have played.”

Launceston’s points tally maybe meagre, but Price is looking at the bigger picture.

He said: “We started the season well with a good win at Penzance and a draw against Dobwalls, but the biggest triumph for the club so far has been the thirds who started this year and are effectively Southgate Under 16s with a couple of experienced players.

“That’s really flourishing and the other day there were 90 young and local footballers in the clubhouse at 1.30pm on a Saturday afternoon, so our partnership with Southgate is working superbly.

“If we’d had a couple of more wins then so far it’d have been a successful season.

“At the moment we need a couple of experienced players, but the project for us is to get 10 to 12 Launceston-based youngsters in our 16-man squad, that would be excellent.”

The Clarets put together a fine run last season to finish in mid-table and Price, who has brought in Kian Berry, Denham Guild and Liam Hill in recent weeks, believes they can do again.

He said: “We played the top six in our first seven games and had to go to Truro who had four first teamers which was tough.

“We went to St Day with hardly anyone available and although they deserved to beat us, we had our chances.

“Also, ten of our 14 games have been away from home due to the floodlights being changed at the start of the season, and two of our key players in Mike Steele and Andy Watkins have played less than half the games for different reasons. George Beardsmore has been injured nearly all season and you need your best players on the park.

“But I’m totally confident that we’ll finish outside of the bottom three. We’ve got the lowest budget by far in the league, but going forward the club is going to be in a fantastic position.

“But we know that we need a couple of victories as soon as we can, starting with St Day at home on Saturday where we should be more than equipped to go for a win, and I think we’ll soon go on a run once get our best players out on the pitch, have a consistent side and better luck with injuries and suspensions.”