IF one man is looking to the heavens for an end to the cold snap it is Leigh Genesis boss Lee Merricks.

The young manager grabbed at the chance to take the reins of the UniBond Premier Division club when backer Dominic Speakman pulled out in October.

But since then, the 28-year-old has seen his side play just five times as the weather has played havoc with Leigh’s fixtures.

“It has been a frustrating time but we just have got to get on with it,” said Merricks, who took over from Steve Bleasdale. “We are several games behind some other teams in our division and have got sucked into the relegation fight so it is going to be a struggle until the end of the season.”

Merricks could not have landed a tougher job as he tries to fashion a side to stay in the UniBond Premier Division at a club who do not pay wages.

But he has put together a side comprising some of the young reserves he was previously in charge of, plus a number of experienced hands who have fallen out of favour at other clubs.

“It gives them a chance to be put in the shop window, but that does not mean we will be keeping faith with players who are not prepared to work hard for their place,” added Merricks.

In their last game on Boxing Day against bottom club Witton Albion, Leigh suffered a 2-0 setback after a performance that left Merricks disappointed.

“We had players who were not prepared to give everything and others who were not good enough, so we are bringing in new faces,” he added.

“We are organised off the pitch, we need to be organised on it, but the weather has affected us. The players have trained well but there is no substitute for playing and they have found it difficult to gel as a side because of the lack of games.”

To add to his problems, plans for Genesis to play at the new Leigh Sports Village have been put back again. The club had originally hoped to have a new home by the start of the season, but although Leigh Centurions played their first game there just after Christmas, undersoil heating problems have meant a further delay for the footballers.

Merricks puts on a brave face, however, saying: “It seems frustrating to some people and it is has been difficult as we have not played a home game all season, but I’m not bothered as long as we move in eventually.”

Leigh’s hopes of playing there on Saturday against Cammell Laird have again been scuppered with the league game being switched to Radcliffe Borough, which leaves only one game against Eastwood Town the following week for the club to get a run-out before they entertain FC United on January 27 in a game that will attract a bumper crowd.

Merricks admitted: “We really need to get the game against Eastwood played at Leigh Sports Village then we can iron out any problems as we don’t want the first one to be against FC United when there could be a couple of thousand fans there.”

But the manager’s first priority is to get his side on the field. “We have trained well and got the lads mentally prepared, we just need to see some action,” he said.