Barry Stone hopes Saturday's 4-1 win over Guildford City will give AFC Hayes ' youngsters the confidence they need to pull away from the Combined Counties Premier drop zone.
The Brook have found life difficult since dropping out of the Southern League, with a 16 place finish in the Combined Counties Premier last term followed by another campaign so far spent around the nether regions again.
And while goals from Austin Schofield, Daniel McDonnell, Rhys Rabess and Nathaniel Mensah only moved them up one place to 19, there have been signs of improvements in recent weeks.
Although the stats will show it was their first win in 10 games, before last week's defeat to Walton & Hersham, the Brook had drawn three in a row and only lost 3-2 to leaders Hartley Wintney.
Club chairman Stone said: “It's not difficult to see we're having a tough season, but we're a young side with six or seven players under 21, and while some of them are good players, they are coming into the real world after playing U18s and academy football.
“You don't quite get that consistency, and you never know what you're going to get. But they're getting better with each game and learning what this level's all about, and on Saturday they all worked for each other.
“If they can't see after Saturday that a work ethic and playing for the team rather than trying to do it all yourself gets results then I don't see what more we can do. But it's a confidence thing with young players, and hopefully this will give them plenty.”
