Eric Kinder spoke to us about the Youth win over Tranmere on Saturday:

"I took a bit of a gamble by including Matthew Brown in the starting line up, and even with having Matt Wood on the bench. Both of them trained on Friday, but neither were what I would call 100% fit, and I decided, with what was at stake, to use them anyway.

With two weeks of the season left, and with five games to play, we knew that we would have a real chance if we won them all. That's why I included both of those players in the squad, and it's a gamble that paid off.

I wasn't sure what we would face with Tranmere. If you look at the table you see that they have won 8 and drawn 10, but that doesn't tell the full tale. Past seasons tells me that they are always a strong side, and that's exactly how it turned out. They were big, strong, and they played their football in the same way that we try to play it. It became a very even and hard game for us, and I'm delighted with the outcome. I'm also pleased with the way that we went about it and the way that we played. It was a proper game of Youth football, with both sides really going for it.

It was 0-0 at half time, and it wasn't going to be too long before I made a change. I thought Ryan Bowman was unlucky to be left out of the starting line up, but the simple reason for that was that I needed to have another look at Mike Hepplethwaite. Ryan stood down, knowing that I needed him to be fully fit for Thursday.

We managed to get ourselves in front in the 53rd minute when Andy Cook slipped the ball through to Hepplethwaite, just inside the box. He unleashed an unbelievable volley from off his right foot, and there isn't a keeper at any level that would have saved it.

We got a bit scrappy after that, and I thought that we needed that second goal. I brought Bowman on for Seaton, and moved Hepplethwaite to the right, and it worked for us. Andy Cook played a through ball, Bowman got on to it, and he took it round the keeper and slotted it in.

I've said before, Ryan has taken to U18 football superbly well. I've got high hopes for him next season. I've said all along that we would have a really strong side next season, as long as we replaced Gary Madine's goals, and it looks like we will do that. If Cooky can come up with 20, I'm sure that Ryan will be chasing not too far behind him.

We've got four games to go now, and if we win all four then we will take the title. As it stands, we could probably lose one and still finish as runners up, but we're going to give it a really good go.

I have to mention a save by Alex Mitchell. It was absolute class. Their lad hit it, and it was a goal all the way. If we thought that our first was unstoppable, then so was this. However, somehow he managed to arch his back and tip it over the bar. That's a measure of how far he has come as a keeper this year.

Again, I thought our back four were strong. We took Browny off late on, because he was struggling a bit, and we'll look at how he is for Thursday.

I think I was probably the most nervous person ahead of kick off in this game. In fact, I was like that until we scored. Once we got the goal, I was fine. Unfortunately, that was when the team decided that they would get nervous. That's unusual for them, and it meant that we were under pressure for about 15 minutes. The pleasing thing is that we saw it through, and then we went on to wrap things up.

I don't think you get too many nerves from a young team. They all just want to play. That's reflected when you see Gary get on for the first team. He's only 17 but he gets out there and gets stuck in. I'm calm after we score, a wreck before we score and, judging by Saturday, it's role reversal with the lads at the moment.

I hate making excuses, and I won't allow the team to do it either, but the postponements, and the way it has left us cramming games in, is what really worries me. If we do lose it now, it's because of that. That isn't an excuse or me getting ready to make an excuse, it's a cold, hard fact. We've had something like ten games called off.

That Tranmere game should actually have been our last game of the season. It should be over ... but we still have four left to play. That makes it very tough for us. It is catching up on us, there is no two ways about that. Experience tells me that we are asking a little bit too much, but they keep surprising me, so we never know.

The gaffer is giving me a great amount of help with this. The Reserves play on Wednesday, we play the day after, and he has already told me that none of my Youth team will be involved with that. He's great like that, and I haven't had this before. For a first team manager to give this amount of support to a Youth team is superb. We may put them on the bench on Wednesday, but it's reassuring for me that the gaffer is also going to try and help us to win this, if he can."

Team - Mitchell, Blake, Duffy, Aldred, Brown (Law), Seaton (Bowman), Dowson (Wood), Hindmarch, Tinnion, Hepplethwaite, Cook. Subs - Jamieson, Lakeland.