HUMBLE Lion FC Head Coach Vassell Reynolds says it will take significant effort if they are to not only avoid relegation from the Wray & Nephew Jamaica Premier League but also make the play-offs in April.

He returned for his second stint at the Clarendon-based club at the end of December, replacing Andrew Price and Oneil Thompson and with the club sitting in ninth place on 11 points — just three wins from their nine games.

Reynolds, who left the role of technical director at Molynes United in November, won his first game in charge by beating Lime Hall 1-0. However, he’s since had three straight defeats which saw the club end the first round in 11th on 14 points, seven points above the relegation zone.

Humble Lion have struggled in both areas of the field as they rank in the bottom four of the offensive and defensive statistics, scoring just 13 goals while conceding 21.

Reynolds told the Jamaica Observer that they will need to address several issues if they are to see an improvement in their current form.

“I think we lack some quality in some key areas, which we are trying to sort out,” he said. “I think we need some people who can run — in terms of age structure — on any given time on the pitch. I think we need to be able to work harder at this level in terms of fitness, the cohesion needs to be right, and to play as a team — and those are some of the areas we are working on.”

Reynolds, who recently led Kingston College to the semi-finals of the ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup and Champions Cup, says he’s started to incorporate more youth into the team and has already seen positives, including in their recent 2-1 defeat to Cavalier.

“We’re in the process where we’re doing some phasing in, phasing out,” he said. “We’re including some young players; [against Cavalier] we fielded four Under-19 players. We would have seen some good signs, especially in the last half. It’s going to take a little bit of time but at the same time we have to recognise that we need to get some points to consolidate ourselves in the competition — and that’s our focus right now.”

Reynolds has therefore called on his players to elevate their performances to push the club further up the standings.

“They have to hold themselves accountable for their performance on the field,” he said. “We have to get them to think about that mentally — it’s their responsibility. We have to get them to work harder, we have to get them to understand the game a little bit better, which is something that we’re working on as a technical staff,” he said.

“[Also,] it’s to look meticulously at the games where we can pick up points, to limit goals conceding, and really move away from the danger zone and get closer to the middle of the pack, so that’s really the aim right now.”

Humble Lion will begin the second round of the league on Wednesday when they travel to St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) to take on fellow strugglers Treasure Beach.