SKIPPER Andrew Sutton believes Barnt Green have the ability to push on after finishing fifth in the Birmingham League Premier Division this season.
In his ninth year at the club and his fifth as captain, Sutton was left pleased with the improvement on last term’s seventh-placed finish.
However, he felt a little bit disappointed the Cherry Hill Road side had bowed out of the national competitions at the early rounds.
But with the availability of Matt Lamb, Ed Pollock, Joshua Poysden and Tom Banton being sporadic, Sutton told the Standard he had no qualms with the campaign overall.
“When you look at the league table the four sides which finished above us have serious quality among their ranks,” he said.
“The table never lies and after losing five on the bounce earlier in the season, we managed to claw ourselves away from the relegation zone to fifth place.
“There was one point where we looked as though we may challenge for the title but we slipped away.
“It would have been nice to go far in the national competitions but this is something we are looking at for next year.”
Sutton is also hopeful more of the club’s youngsters will progress through the ranks and go on to become professionals.
“It’s been an enjoyable time as captain as I have been able to pass on my knowledge to the younger guys to help them learn,” he added.
“Next season we are probably going to have an even younger side than the one we have right now but that’s a positive in itself.
“There are lads at this club which want to push on for honours as well as having aspirations of playing professionally and I want to help them achieve that.”
