Thurlbourne still has a future with City

ST ALBANS City boss Steve Castle insists midfielder Luke Thurlbourne still has a future with the club despite the 19-year-old being dropped from the side for a breach of club discipline.

Castle axed the former Southend midfielder from the squad for Saturday's 1-1 draw with Lewes for failing to comply with the club's dress code but Castle still sees the midfielder playing a part for City this season.

"We've got a disciplinary code and a dress code and he consistently disobeyed it and I'd had enough and he got told to go home," Castle revealed to The Herts Advertiser. "He's got to grow up a little bit come and see me and we'll take it from there. Everybody's got to toe the line and there are no exceptions to that."

Castle admits the team have a lot of work to do on their attacking play and believes it's just a case of the players needing to have more self-belief.

"Really we haven't fired on all cylinders going forward and that was the case today. Up until the goal I didn't think there was a decent cross put in and if you're not going to score goals, and I know I'm stating the obvious, but you're not going to win games.

"We can't really say we've tested the goalkeeper but what they have done and what I have got a lot of admiration for this team is that they have kept on trying to do the right things.

"I'm stating the obvious to them after the game, they know it, I said to the lads concerned we didn't get the crosses in and they know it, they're good players."

Assistant manager Mark Peters came off the bench to score his first goal for the club and rescue a point and it took the centre-half's introduction up front to cause panic in the Lewes defence.

"Mark is going to be a pest wherever he goes and always at set plays," added Castle. "That was a good bonus for us, we've got to work very, very hard on our attacking play. It's people that we know are good players that we just need to get into the right areas and attack the right areas when they're trying to get on the end of things."

Castle also had praise for referee Matt Foley after the official rang him during the week to explain the dismissals of Solomon Shields and Paul Bastock at Welling.

"I have a lot of admiration for the referee on that one, he could have ducked out of it on that one and not bothered but he gave his explanation.

"Obviously the two of us are never going to agree. I don't really want to make any more comment on that other than I thought it was a good thing on his part and I think more dialogue should be made between managers and officials."

City travel to Bishop's Stortford on Saturday looking to pick up their first away win of the campaign.

"They've gone away from home and put an awful lot of goals past Weymouth. It's a little bit of a mixed bag themselves. They've got some good players, the lad Sheringham is scoring a lot of goals there but we've got a good competitive team."