TALENTED duo Jack Davies and Kieran Adams have cemented their first-team spots at Church Stretton Town.

Joint-manager Joe Leask says the pair have made their mark in injury-hit Stretton's mixed campaign in the Mercian League Premier Division.

Stretton are ninth in the division, just six points off top spot, and they travel to fourth-placed Ketley Bank United this Saturday.

Leask said: "We have introduced some young lads this season who have played regularly and done very well.

"Jack Davies is a former Shrewsbury Town lad and he's only 17 years old and has a very good technique. He's scored about three or four goals.

"Kieran Adams has also been excellent for us. He's got good pace and a really good attitude. We have a couple of other superb young players. Neil Castle is our only player aged over 30 years old."

Leask says the story of Stretton's season so far has been 'a case of dropped points and inconsistency'.

"We had an excellent pre-season and, with the lads we had brought in, we felt we could challenge for the title," said Leask.

"But we lost eight or nine players due to injuries out of the16 we had selected and the squad changed significantly to what we had expected.

"We were going to some games with just 12 players but with teams taking points off each other, four or five wins on the bounce, would see us moving into the top three."

Leask thinks that Stretton can start 2014 on a winning note but the players will have to cope with a robust Ketley outfit.

"We have already played at Ketley and lost - and they are a physical and strong side and we normally struggle against teams like that.

"We have had some disappointing results against teams we would have expected to defeat.

"But we have beaten Oakengates and Telford Juniors and there have only been a couple of matches in which we have not been good enough."