Ex-Burnley FC youth team skipper believes the Blues will have the right kind of 'swagger'!

The Clitheroe FC boss acknowledges that there has been plenty of hype surrounding the squad that he’s assembled at Shawbridge.

But the Blues player-manager, a former Burnley FC youth captain, is imploring his group to ignore the outside noise at all costs.

“There’s been a lot of hype around the club so it’s our job to keep the players’ feet on the ground,” he said.

“Other people can talk about us but I’m not a fan of blowing your own trumpet.

“We won’t be doing that because it can spread and become a bit toxic!”

Lynch doesn’t want to see any inflated egos at the club. The ex-Halifax Town midfielder wants to see ambition, not arrogance.

He knows the demands of the Northern Premier League West Division will be challenging enough without the detriment of certain personality flaws.

“This football club is trying to go one way, we need to keep driving that, but we’ll let our work on the pitch do the talking.

“There’s ambition within the group, we have our targets, and we want to ensure that we’re competitive and positioned at the right end of the table.

“It’s going to be a tough league, there won’t be any pushovers, so we’ll know we’ll have to be on the money week in, week out.

“Everything we’re doing on the pitch reflects what we’re trying to do on it.”

Thankfully, Lynch, who turned 28 earlier in the week, doesn’t foresee any issues on that front with the characters among his ranks.

Phil Brown’s successor has a very good feeling about the collective that reported back for pre-season at the back end of June.

“It has been spot on,” he beamed. “I’m really happy with the feel of the squad and where we’re at.

“It’s probably the best I’ve felt in terms of the togetherness of the group.

“You need a group that is tight-knit, it’s really important.

“It doesn’t guarantee you results but it’s a good thing to have. The lads know that they need to deliver on the pitch.

“They’re enjoying it at the moment, but that doesn’t mean they’re not working hard.”

Lynch made his first start in around 18 months when the Blues entertained League One Accrington Stanley at the weekend.

Reds’ boss John Coleman stuck to his pledge to send a full-strength squad for the pipe-opener.

And the visitors ultimately secured a comfortable victory with goals from Dion Charles, Colby Bishop and David Morgan.

Lynch was happy to see some action, but he’ll have to earn his shirt when the season gets underway, just like everybody else.

He said: “I’ve got to earn the right to be involved. It was difficult for me to get into the team last season because there were so many players in that area of the pitch performing really well.

“I’m no different to the rest of the lads; I’ve got to prove that I’m worthy of a place in the team and there’s some healthy competition in that area of the pitch.”