GOALKEEPER Chris Weale revealed Magpies’ assistant-manager Trevor Senior convinced him to stay at the Avenue Stadium after a testing start to his debut Dorchester Town season.

Under previous boss Craig Laird, Weale conceded 14 goals in his first four games before Laird’s departure, bringing Steve Thompson to the Magpies’ helm in mid-September.

Weale, a former Yeovil Town stopper, admitted his respect for Thompson, himself a former Yeovil player and manager, was a big factor in his decision to stay put during that difficult time.

He told Echosport: “If he wasn’t here I wouldn’t have stayed. Towards the beginning of last season I was umming and arring and Trev convinced me to stay because things weren’t going great at the start of the season.

“(Thompson) coming in changed things massively because I’ve got huge respect for him. He’s played a lot of games in professional football and coached at some very, very good clubs.

“I respect him really highly so he’s the main reason why I stayed and his passion for football’s huge, his dedication to the cause is huge and he just wants to be a success in whatever he does.”

Weale also feels that Dorchester can achieve as much as they put their minds to next season.

He said: “We can achieve whatever we want to achieve. I know it does depend on budgets a little bit in this league.

“You’ve seen from last season the strongest teams probably had the biggest budget. But, there are exceptions to the rule and sometimes with a young, hungry side like we’re going to have, the possibilities are in our hands.

“We’ve learnt a lot from last season with experience and over the summer they’ve reflected. It would be silly not to go into the league and not want to be in the top half, if not higher.”

Weale was further enthused by the club’s young players, who he feels can help improve the Magpies.

“There are some very good players and the best thing for them to do, and I say that a lot, is to play games, especially at this level because it’s three points on the line and it matters.

“Whereas, if you’re playing academy football or under-23s football it’s not important and I don’t think it’s great for their education.

“So to play non-league football is brilliant for youngsters. Especially more so now, I think league clubs need to realise that.

“I think they are more so sending their players out on loan rather than in the under-23s because it’s false football,” he said.