AFC TOTTON head coach Lee Burch is a ‘glass half full’ kind of guy.

Having wound up with a broken right leg, you would have thought his ill-fated appearance for Stags’ reserves at Lymington ten days ago was a game he would rather forget.

Instead he prefers to remember that night, not for his stoppage-time injury, but for playing alongside the next generation of Stags.

“We had Kieran Greene in goal and young Matty Brewer and Sam Morris up front,” he said.

“You can see they’re going to be good players.

“The next Mike Gosney is out there and it’s a case of spotting these lads early and giving them a game.

“We’ve had at least one 17 or 18-year-old in our starting 11 all season – plus others on the bench. Matty Brewer (16) and Jake Rawkins (17) linked up for one of our goals against Bashley. As a coach, it’s so nice to work with these young lads."

Totton have a score to settle on Saturday when last weekend's 2-0 FA Trophy conquerors Tiverton visit the Testwood Stadium in the Southern One South & West.

It is Non-League Day, so admission is reduced to £5 adults, £3 concessions and £1 for children. And with no Premier League programme, the Stags would love to attract some Saints fans along to support their new squad.

Burch was unable to travel to Tiverton last week due to injury and found it difficult watching the action unfold on social media.

“You try to piece together what’s happening and it's frustrating reading on Twitter that you’ve conceded,” he confessed.

“But we’d been on a good run before that with three wins out of four and we’re in a really good place going forward.

“The club was in a bad state when (manager) Steve Hollick took over and we weren’t going to bring in new players and have it work straight away. But we’re spending hours and hours on the training field and we're starting to see the fruits of our labour."

Even with his injury, Burch will remain involved with training.

“I’ll prop my leg up and hit people with my crutches if they’re not doing well,” he smiled.

“We’ve got Dave Rowland who’s a top, top coach and Steve Hollick's also a B Licence coach. I can give a few ideas for sessions – my mouth still works! – but I can’t deliver them for a while.”

Totton’s delayed Hampshire FA Senior Cup tie at AFC Stoneham has been rescheduled for next Wednesday. The Red Insure Cup game against Bashley is pushed back to October 20.