After making his 300th appearance in a Woodbridge Town shirt last weekend, player-manager Jamie Scales admits that he is ‘loving every minute’ of his time in charge of the Woodpeckers.

The 34-year-old former Woodbridge skipper, who made 291 appearances over nine seasons before joining Grundisburgh in 2008, re-joined the Woodpeckers for a second spell in the summer – taking over the managerial reigns following Lee Elliston’s departure.

Taking over a side who were relegated into the Thurlow Nunn First Division, Scales’ main aim at the start of the season was to stabilise and unite a very young Woodpeckers’ side.

And, albeit after a poor start which saw the Suffolk side lose six of their opening eight games, Woodbridge’s fortunes are slowly turning.

An excellent five-game run from mid-September to early-October yielded positive results and confidence, and although a cup-heavy October month has seen a mixed bag of results, Scales believes his young side are certainly on the up.

“We’ve had a mixed bag of results of late with some indifferent performances, but the boys are all learning, and more importantly, they’re all willing to learn and put in the donkey work,” said the Woodbridge boss.

“For 50/60 minutes against Melford (a 3-0 defeat for Woodbridge against the table-toppers) recently, we were absolutely superb, but it’s just that know-how, that physical side, and that experience, which you can’t teach, which is denying us.

“The boys will be in good stead for it though, and for me, I’m loving every minute of it.”

One particular youngster who is shining is 16-year-old striker George Mrozek, whose goal tally for the first-team reads as six - with two of these coming in a fine 2-1 away FA Vase win over Broxbourne Borough.

“George has been superb,” declared Scales.

“He’s a player with great prospects but I’ve got to manage him right – you can expect too much too soon from young players and overplay them, but at the moment, it’s hard not to keep picking him as he’s been fantastic.”

Woodbridge and Mrozek will look to keep that FA Vase dream alive tomorrow with a home tie against Huntingdon Town.