HE may have been forced into it by circumstances beyond his control, but Radcliffe Boro boss Kevin Glendon is not averse to giving youth a fling, as his side continues to battle for a play-off spot and a place in two cup finals.

"Against Mossley we were different class, we played some great football despite the conditions and the fact we went there without our two recognised strikers," he said.

"Young Leon Grandison and Rob Massey came on as subs and did very well, in fact we had five youth teamers out on Tuesday night as we had no Heald, Spencer, Luker, Kilheeney or Foster, so we had to start Mike Wilkinson and the others were on the bench.

"I am not getting carried away with their performances, as they are coming on as subs, it isn't the same as starting a game.

"Grandison is one of those players that catches the eye, he is quick, hungry and has a good touch and we will certainly be looking to use him again

"That in itself tells the rest of the youth team that if they continue to work hard they will get their chance in the first team far quicker than they could have expected.

"I wouldn't have expected five of them to have been involved in a cup quarter-final, but circumstances dictated otherwise.

"Ideally I wouldn't want to bring in so many at once, it is better to bring in one or two at a time and introduce them as subs.

"The big thing now is to get them joining in training and get them involved with away games, travelling with the first team and getting to feel part of things."

In fact he is so happy with the way the youngsters have performed that he can now be more choosy when it comes to bringing reinforcements in.

"There is a lot to be said for having a small squad at times, you can get a good feeling of togetherness going which really helps boost morale and build confidence," he said.

"But if you get a spate of injuries it can kill you. It's a very fine line between having and not having enough.

"As for reinforcements, I've decided not go for a loan signing and I'm not just going to bring someone in to make up the numbers, I'm quite happy to use the youth team lads for that.

"I'm really looking for one or two who are the right age, who can genuinely add something and who are likely to be around for the next season and the season after that."

As for Saturday it is back to league action with a vsit to the Turnbull Ground home of third-placed Whitby.

"It won't be easy, in fact I don't think they've been beaten in the league for about 15 games," said Glendon.

"It is right out there in the sticks and I've never been there yet on a nice day, but we will go there in confident mood, we'll have Fozzie and Ciaran back and we'll go for it

"They are pretty direct and good at set-pieces, but our back three of Kelly, McGuire and Hill are gelling well together and they are all confident on the ball and not afraid of passing."