FOLLOWING a dramatic overhaul, which saw the clearing out of most of their established and experienced players during the early period of the season, Tivoli Gardens coach Glendon ‘Admiral’ Bailey believes his young team is slowly finding their footing in the Red Stripe Premier League (RSPL).

After a below par display in the first round, the veteran coach expects his young charges to get into their rhythm and the thick of the title race during the second round of the competition.

The former winners are presently languishing in unfamiliar territory in ninth position with 11 points after 10 games, just two places above the relegation zone.

“We are not where we want to be and we are not accustomed to being in this position, but we have to keep working and digging hard,” he said.

In their last outing, the west Kingston side conceded an added time goal to suffer their second last-minute defeat in three matches.

However, the astute Bailey insists that once the youngsters can maintain their energy level and concentrate a bit harder for the next round, they can turn their season around. “I like the crop of youths that I have, I like their energy and their intensity, we just need to be a bit more intense defensively and improve our concentration and we should be fine.

“Because it’s a long season and we have time to recover, so we just have to dig deep and continue the recovery process,” he reasoned.

Bailey said the team has shown immense potential and he reiterated that with small improvements here and there, the team can challenge for the RSPL title.

“If we can display this same energy for the second round and keep it for the remainder of the season, then I think we can make a run for it.

“So right now our aim is for the second round and trying to make it to the end-of-round final, and hopefully with the changes we will make and with a little more luck, we can get the job done,” he added.

At the start of the season, Tivoli got rid of most of their “stars”, including Roland Dean, Romeo Parkes, Mitchily Waul, Mario Swaby, Devon Hodges, among others.

They retained only a few veterans such as Kasai Hinds, Christopher Jackson and Damion Gordon, alongside upcoming stars such as Navion Boyd and Dane Kelly to rebuild a new team around.