HOOKER Jamie Folan says that more players must start attending training if Basingstoke are to pull themselves out of trouble at the bottom of National Three London.

It has been a bad season for ’Stoke, who find themselves trapped in the relegation zone with games running out – and Folan says that a lack of numbers at training is one of the reasons behind this.

“Training is the real problem,” he said. “Too many people don’t make sessions and that is a big reason for the situation we find ourselves in.

“We are finding problems at the weekend but do not have the opportunity to work on them during the week because not everybody is at training.

“It’s an amateur club but we are playing at a decent level and people should be committed enough to come to training every week.”

If Basingstoke are to avoid the drop, their next three games will be crucial. Saturday sees them travel to bottom of the table Diss, with home games against fellow strugglers Havant and North Walsham following on from this.

“They are three games that will make or break whether we stay up or go down,” Folan admitted. “They are must-win games and if we win all three then we should be fine because it will give our confidence a real boost.

“Diss are first up and they are similar to most other teams in this league. They are big up front and physical so we need to match them in the forwards and then take advantage when we get the ball in the hands of our backs.

“That has been an issue all season. We have got one of the better packs but that is not matched in the backs because we have got a lot of young guys in there – and that has shown.”

Folan says that this season has been one of the most difficult he has experienced in his time at the club – and admits that it has been tough to keep everyone’s spirits up.

“Most of the time we are managing to keep positive,” he said. “It’s hard when you are losing week in, week out.

“It has been a very tough year and similar to the other year we struggled and went down. I expected it to be hard because it is such a new squad, but not this bad.

“It is not like teams have been walking over us for most of the season though. We are losing but just coming off second best, having opportunities but not taking them.”

One definite positive for Folan is being handed the captaincy in the absence of regular skipper Simon Appleby.

He may only be 22 but Folan certainly has enough first-team experience to lead the side and he admits that it is something he would like to do on a more permanent basis in the future.

“It is a good feeling to be captain,” he said. “I had an inkling that it might be thrown my way because there are a lot of new faces but it feels great to do it.

“It’s a massive accolade but being captain does not affect the way I play. I do not get up in the referee’s face, I just try to put in my best performance and make sure that the guys do the same.

“It’s something that I enjoy and I certainly would not turn it down in the future. It’s something all players want to do but we will wait and see if that happens.”