WINCHESTER City manager Craig Davis rates rampaging right-back Dan Williamson as the best in the Evo-Stik South West.

But with Williamson struggling with a back problem, 19-year-old defender Joe Hayward did a superb job of stepping into the main man’s boots on Tuesday.

The teenager's contribution was hailed “fantastic” by the boss as City romped to fourth in the table with a 2-1 victory at North Leigh.

Former Eastleigh youngster Hayward, 19, has been out getting game time with Wessex outfit Brockenhurst and Davis believes he has benefited from the experience.

“I’d have Joe in the squad every week, but he’s up against Dan Williamson who, in my opinion, is the best right-back in the league with the way he drives forward with the ball, and Joe needs games,” said Davis.

“Once Dan's back in the team, Joe will probably return to Brock because he’ll need a run of games and the way he played on Tuesday shows it works. I’ve got a lot of time for Joe. He’s like a sponge, desperate to learn and get better.”

Apart from Liam Gilbert (work commitments), Davis is optimistic of having a full squad available for Saturday's home match against eighth-placed Evesham.

Defenders Adam Tomasso and Rob Flooks return from suspension, while Williamson and Rob Carr (foot) should be fit.

Whether Davis will ring the changes after North Leigh remains to be seen, but he said: “We’ll have a very strong bench, that’s for sure.

“Tuesday was probably our most professional performance of the season. It’s a difficult place to go and we were missing a few players.”

While happy to be fourth, Davis is not getting carried away. So tight is the top half of the table that tenth-placed Didcot are just three points behind.

“A couple of weeks ago we were tenth and now we’re fourth, but teams have got games in hand on us,” he said.

“We’ll just concentrate on getting performance levels right and not pay too much attention to league positions.

“Come the end of the season, we’ll be where we deserve to be.”