“I DON’T like losing, losing doesn’t sit comfortably in my vocabulary.”

New Clitheroe player-manager David Lynch is realistic enough to know that defeats will happen and he was given a rude awakening in his first competitive game, an FA Cup loss to lower league Warrington Rylands last weekend.

But he will be looking to make amends as the Blues kick-off their Northern Premier League North West Division campaign at Brighouse today.

“It’s safe to say I wasn’t happy and I let the players know about that,” he said. “The most disappointing thing was that we didn’t do any of the things we have worked so hard on in the 10 weeks I have been here.

“But we will all learn from it, not dwell on it and we move on.

“The great thing about non-league football is that the games come thick and fast.”

Lynch has played more than 200 games in and around National League North having had spells at Halifax, Southport, Altrincham and Warrington but the 27-year-old has dropped two divisions to return to Clitheroe where he spent two years as a player.

Lancashire Telegraph:

While he is delighted to be back, he knows there is no room for Shawbridge sentiment.

“I love this club, I spent two seasons here and was captain,” he said. “It was a springboard for me to get back up the leagues and I will always be grateful for that.

“But this is a results business and I know to succeed here, I have to win matches.”

Lynch knows there is pressure on his young mangerial shoulders but, thankfully for him, that is an environment he thrives in. “I love pressure, whether it is in football or in work,” he said.

“As a player, it was something I thrived under, it brought the best out of me and I am certain that will be the case as a manager.”

The former Burnley trainee gets slightly irked at the mention of his age and being a so-called rookie manager.

“The age thing does annoy me a bit,” he said. “I have been involved in football for a long time and have been a student of the game from a very young age. So I know I am ready for this.”

Lynch was manager of Crown Paints in the Blackburn Sunday League and guided the Darwen club to league and cup success and also the coveted LFA Sunday Trophy.

“I basically ran that team as I would a non-league club,” said Lynch, whose team included current Blues players Conor Gaul and Danny Pilkington. “So I have experience of running a team and I have some very good people around me now to help me.”

Lynch speaks like a seasoned manager when he says he is not setting any targets in his first campaign and has no qualms with taking it one game at a time.

“It has to be that way,” he added. “If you look too far ahead then you can easily become unstuck.”

With Lynch still in his playing prime, it remains to be seen if he will remain on the dugout side of the touchline.

“I really don’t know,” he said. “I know I can do a job on the pitch but I don’t want in to be at the detriment of my job as manager. Hopefully they won’t need me!”

In the same division, Ramsbottom kick off their season at Widnes.

And four teams are in action in the first qualifying round of the FA Vase.

Nelson and Bacup Borough travel to Carlisle City and Pilkington respectively. Barnoldswick Town go to Newton Aycliffe and AFC Darwen make the trip to Staveley Miners Welfare.