WARRINGTON Town boss Paul Carden says confidence within the squad is high after a week that saw him pick up his first win in charge.

Saturday’s 2-0 victory over Rushall Olympic also ended a sequence of four Northern Premier League matches without collecting maximum points.

Goals from Ciaran Kilheeney and an own goal by Henry Eze ensured Yellows stayed in touch with the Premier Division’s other promotion-hopefuls.

They sit eighth in the table, five points adrift of the final play-offs place, currently occupied by Buxton, and Carden believes a victory over third-placed Rushall has given them momentum going into Saturday’s home game against Barwell, kick off 3pm.

“We’ve brought a lot of lads in and haven’t had much time to work on things but I was very pleased with the performance,” he said.

“We were strong and we passed the ball well when we needed to.

“It’s always a good sign when you put in a good performance but the lads feel like they could have done more.

“I’m anxious to see that improvement and I’m confident it will come as spirits are really high at the moment.

“Barwell are like many sides in this league. They are a threat but they can be got at. If we put in a similar or better performance to last week then we’re in with a good chance.”

Saturday’s win was followed by defeat in the Integro League Cup at Ashton United on Tuesday.

A much-changed, youthful Town side contested the 2-0 defeat and Carden says there were “plenty of positives” to emerge from the game.

“It was always the intention to give some of the reserves a bit of a run-out,” he said.

“There were also some lads who haven’t played a great deal recently so needed a few minutes.

“It was a good exercise against a strong side so there’s plenty of positives to take despite the defeat.”

Since Carden replaced Stuart Mellish and Lee Smith in the Cantilever Park hotseat, several new signings have been introduced to the first team.

Mitch Duggan and Sean Williams made their debuts against Rushall, while the likes of Tony McMillan, Eddie Toner and Danny Hattersley have also been brought in and Carden says his recruitment drive may not be finished yet.

“The new lads have given us different options and, in some cases, better options,” he said.

“It’s always the case when the management team changes, there is a high turnover of players.

“We’ll keep looking to see what’s out there until we’re satisfied we’ve got the right squad to achieve our goals.”