IF Eastleigh win their fight to stay in the Conference South, manager Paul Doswell is seriously contemplating reverting to a younger side next season.

Doswell sent shockwaves around the non-League scene earlier this week by accusing his players of lacking moral fibre and not caring enough about the club.

Part of the problem is that the majority of his pre-season signings backfired and he has been forced to trawl well outside the Southampton area for experienced replacements, most of whom lack local identity.

"We're in a mess," he confessed. "A lot of the players we brought in for this season obviously saw us as a gravy train and the biggest problem I'm finding now is that there are not enough good, local players capable of playing in this league so we're having to bring in players in from outside the area, which costs more.

"When we played at Dagenham & Redbridge in a friendly a couple of Saturdays ago, they had full-time players on less money than ours but then most of them live only a few minutes from their ground.

"They've got a massive catchment area up there, whereas we've had to pay out to get people in from places like Essex and they don't have the same affinity for the club as the players we had in our early days."

Doswell is seriously considering going back to what Eastleigh experimented with last season, recruiting keen, young players looking for a route into the professional game.

A prime success story was former Peterborough United youngster Bradley Thomas who found his way back into the pro ranks with Yeovil Town.

Doswell said: "When we played Cambridge City last Saturday, they weren't a particularly great side, but they had eight or nine teenagers in their ranks who worked their socks off and had energy and enthusiasm.

"One of the things I'm considering is going with a much younger side at Eastleigh. They'd be full-time but on half the money some of the players are getting now."

Full story and more non-league news in today's Daily Echo