ONE of the most frustrating things I have found since taking up the position of player-manager is the lack of reserve teams games.

If we are lucky, there is a reserve game every other week now and it just isn't enough.

Reserve team games may lack the competitive edge of a senior matches but they are a great grounding for trainees and an important part of their development.

It also allows me to determine whether I think they are ready to make that next step up into the first team squad.

At the same time, they are important for enabling fringe squad players to keep their sharpness and match fitness if they are not getting 90 minutes on a Saturday.

Players can train as hard as they like on the training ground but match fitness can only be obtained from playing regularly

Second team matches also allow injured players get their match fitness back in an environment not nearly as gruelling as a first team game. It eases them back in gently.

They also provide us with the opportunity to have a look at trialists in a match situation. Again, we can watch players on the training field but it is only when they play a competitive game that we can make a fair assessment.

A simple lack of reserve team matches in the calendar is extremely frustrating then for a manager.

When I was starting out as a professional footballer there was a second string game just about every week.

A lot of it has changed since the inception of the Premiership, which has its own reserve team league now.

There was a time when you could play against the reserve teams of Manchester United or Liverpool.

It was a great learning experience for a young player.

There may only have been one or two so-called 'names' involved but as a youngster it was a real eye opener.

You always had a break over the Christmas period which was understandable because there are always a lot of first team fixtures during that time.

However, our last reserve team game of this year is on December 10. The next one will not take place until more than a month later, on January 14.

You only need to have one of those games called off by the weather, which is quite possible at that time of year, and a one month break becomes almost two months.

It is frustrating for the lads on the fringe who will lose their match fitness.

But it is particularly frustrating for those coming back from injury or suspension who need to get games in.

On the injury front, Steve Downes is now building up the muscles around his injured knee.

We have to wrap Mitch Ward up in cotton wool at the moment but fingers crossed he will be okay for the weekend.

Stuart Wise has had a scan on his knee. It hasn't shown anything conclusive so it is just a matter of waiting for the swelling to go down.

Levent Yalcin has started his first week of rehabilitation after undergoing surgery on a hernia problem.

It is just a matter of being tentative at first, doing a lot of stretches and getting rid of the scar tissue.

Fingers crossed, he is on the road to recovery and by New Year we can start thinking about getting him involved in the first team.

But that brings us back to the problem of a lack of reserve team games.

Fortunately, we do have Kevin Hornsby, our fitness coach, and Jeff Miller, the club physio, who can work closely with Lev, but he will still have to work twice as hard over Christmas and it is just a shame there are not more reserve team games arranged during that period.

Updated: 09:42 Thursday, November 13, 2003