​Holleran stays in positive mood despite lack of goals

​A 3-0 loss at Hereford on Good Friday was followed by a 2-0 defeat to title-chasers Brackley on Monday, the Brakes again unable to find the net as their season limps to a close but with safety assured.

And Holleran told the club’s media that whilst it’s been disappointing the season isn’t ending on a high note, it’s not for the want of trying.

He said: “They were the better team, there’s no doubt about that. We huffed and puffed. It’s a shame really because we’ve had some really good spells in the division this year, some good runs, and it’s just a shame now that late on when you were hoping we could just keep the levels up, nick a few results and get the points tally up - we haven’t been able to do it.

"I don’t think it’s through a lack of effort. Looking at the bigger picture, we’ve stepped over half the squad up to this level who haven’t played at this level before; we’ve tried to get as much as we can out of the boys that have been with us for a long time - they’ve ran themselves into the ground again all season.

"We got found out a little bit with probably the depth of the squad in the last five or six weeks of the season. Overall, we finished 15/16 points behind Needham Market last season. We’ve finished 15/16 points ahead of them this year.

"The fact that we have stepped these players up, the fact of how well we’ve competed, how well we’ve done at home this year, we’ve put another player into League One again - there’s lots of plusses, and I certainly don’t want the last month to take away how well the group has done. It’s certainly not a lack of application. I think we’ve been a bit stretched, we’ve made some poor decisions. I think there’s quite a few tired legs and tired minds out there at the moment.”

Leamington head to Curzon Ashton for their final game of the season on Saturday.