LES Jones says he is aiming for a settled side after picking Pershore Town up from “rock-bottom” in his first three months as manager.

When the ex-Malvern Town boss arrived at King George V Playing Fields in late September Pershore were struggling at the foot of the West Midlands League Premier Division.

Jones said he also had a threadbare squad and set about rebuilding the team with up to 16 players coming in including ex-Malvern trio Joe Endacott, Jamie Smith and Matt Pinder.

“When we took over we had very little playing staff,” he said.

“We managed to bring in a few on loan for the first game and then had the remnants of the ones still left under the previous manager. We have really come from rock-bottom to where we are now as we’ve got a squad of 17 or 18 players.

“It has been a difficult time and it’s taken 10 or 12 weeks to get players in and develop them.

“We are now getting to the stage where we are trying to get a settled team and not keep introducing new players.”

Two league wins under Jones have moved Pershore off the bottom with 12 points but they are only one place above Pegasus Juniors after losing 4-0 to Malvern at the weekend.

“We get frustrated with it as we take two steps forward and then one back,” Jones said.

“We are still nowhere near the level of Malvern but feel like we have got a side that can compete against mid-table teams.”

Pershore go to 14th-placed Smethwick Rangers on Saturday (3pm).

“The sole aim is to survive this season and then be in a good position to start pre-season,” Jones added.

“We haven’t got a DNA at the club for the way we want to play.

“When we first came we had a game Saturday-Tuesday, Saturday-Tuesday so we weren’t able to train. With the high turnover of players as well, getting set-pieces sorted has been difficult as you’d gone through them one week and then you have got two new players in the next.

“What we want to do over the next three or four weeks is build a team and a pattern of play.”

“You can’t just throw them out there and say ‘You are 11 good players, get on with it‘ and think you can end up playing like Man City!”