PHIL Lashford has been given the job of trying to guide Stourport out of the Men’s Conference West’s relegation zone after keeper Ben Dudley stepped down as captain.

Lashford takes the reins as skipper for the third time as Stourport enter the second half of the season mired in a battle to avoid the drop.

It’s a remarkable return for one of the club’s most celebrated and longest-serving players, who retired from the first team at the end of last season.

However, he returned as a player in November as Stourport toiled in the league.

Stourport are bottom of the table in the automatic relegation spot and are five points behind closest rivals Bournville.

They will be aiming to kick-start their campaign and bag their first win of the season with two testing fixtures.

They entertain fourth-placed Havant on Saturday (1.30pm start) before taking on University of Birmingham away the following day (12.30pm start).

Lashford said: “Ben has decided to step down for the good of the team and I think it’s incredibly brave of him.

“He’s one of our best players but I think he was struggling with the dual role and it affected his form.

“But he’s looked like his old self in training and that gives me a lot of confidence for the second half of the season.

“For my part I came back to play for the team in November.

“I would never have forgiven myself if they had went down and I had done nothing to help.

“We’ve got nine crunch games and we’ve got to build some momentum and confidence fast.

“We ended the first half of the season well and the break came at the wrong time for us but we’re going to have to give it our all to get out of this predicament.”

Dudley, who replaced Lashford as captain in the summer, admitted leading the side on the pitch had affected his form in goal and after talks with coach Mark Moss had decided to concentrate on keeping the opposition out.

He said: “I spoke to Mark Moss and Holly Lashford and we agreed that it was better that I am playing well rather than captaining well.

“Captaining the side definitely affected my form, I felt there was a bit too much pressure on me.

“This is an important weekend for us, we've two mid-table sides so we’ve got to win at least one of these games.”

Stourport have been buoyed by avoiding relegation in the Indoor National League Division One.

A 4-3 win over Harleston Magpies in the final game ensured Stourport pulled off a last-gasp rescue.