SAM Lanahan believes last weekend’s sensational win against Dunstable demonstrated the benefits of having a player-manager like Mark Jermyn.

The Magpies’ boss made a key tactical decision midway through the first half on Saturday which played a big part in his side’s brilliant comeback victory.

Jermyn moved himself into midfield and dropped Nathan Walker to centre-back in response to the hosts taking a 3-1 lead.

That change paid dividends as Dorchester stormed to a 5-3 success.

“I think we deserved it,” said midfielder Lanahan. “It wasn’t a great start but having Jem on the pitch at a time like that is ideal.

“He can see everything in front of him, whereas on the sidelines it’s harder to do that.

“He was able to change things quickly and we looked a better side straight away.

“Being a player-manager, Jem has got that high level of authority on the pitch.”

He added: “He has instilled a belief in the club and the first thing he said was that we had the players to achieve things.

“He didn’t want to talk about relegation, it was about getting to a mid-table position and looking up, not down.

“There is definitely still work to do and we want to get as far away from the bottom of the table as we can.”

Lanahan, who has eight goals for the season in all competitions, scored for the second game running at Creasey Park and is now setting his sights on hitting double figures.