BARNOLDSWICK Town manager Endrit Shehu believes his side's performance against Stockton Town showed that they can reverse their league fortunes.

The 15th-placed side were holding more of their own in the FA Vase second round tie before Town scored two goals in the last 20 minutes.

The match, which was witnessed by more than 600 spectators, was Shehu's first after replacing Matt Barnes a fortnight ago.

Despite the loss, the debutant manager is proud of his team and feels it was Stockton's ability to rely on their squad which led to their win.

He said: "That extra depth in squad gave them the win, they made some subs, which had a great impact on the game.

"We matched them in all areas of the pitch, the only difference was in the final third they had that extra bit of quality.

"We did well for 70 minutes, defended well, were organised and pressed Stockton who wanted to play out from the back.

"The moment they scored that first goal it was hard for us to get back into the game then they quickly scored the next one and it was over.

"The boys made the club proud. When we walked into the changing rooms, the Stockton fans were applauding us so that shows how well we did."

Barnoldswick have lost their last three fixtures in all competitions and visit relegation strugglers Burscough on Saturday.

In what will be Shehu's first league game in charge, he thinks a win could kick start their climb up the league.

He said: "It is a good game to go into after Stockton. Even though we lost on Saturday we have loads of positives which we can bring into this big game.

"It is all about the points no matter who we play. It is time we start getting points with the good performance we had.

"The main aim is to finish better than last year. We had a great start but a poor finish to the season. My main objective is to finish top ten.

"We are looking to add more players to the team and give us those goals we need upfront.

"I want to settle the team, get my way of playing and hopefully the boys will buy into it and the results will come.

"It is still early, only played 12 games, so we will see how we are at Christmas."