Boro have used 28 players so far this season - something the Stevenage boss says is ‘not ideal’

Teddy Sheringham says using nearly 30 players already this season ‘is not ideal’, adding that he is trying to find a consistent team to deliver results.

Stevenage have used 28 players so far, including 16 who area aged 23 and under, and they are next in action on Wednesday evening when Dagenham & Redbridge come to town in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy.

Asked about not being able to call upon a consistent team week in, week out, Sheringham said: “There was a time when in our four-game [unbeaten] period it did become very steady, but then you have a loss from nowhere [Barnet, 3-2] and a performance from nowhere which I wasn’t happy with.

“Then you get injuries or whatever, and things change.

“I think I’ve made a lot of changes in the last couple of games, which isn’t ideal for anyone. I do like consistency.

“When you pick your best team you’d like to think you’re going to say that’s your best team, but then I’ve got players who want to impress me as well and show me that they should be playing.

“If performances dip then other people get chances. That’s how it should be.

“Before we were winning and everyone was performing well and then you keep that consistent team. But if you don’t, you try to find the answers.”

One player who made his first start of the season on Saturday was Ben Kennedy.

He started the game on the right of midfield, and while he and Tom Conlon, who was on the left, roamed inside often in the first half, when they stuck more to their positions in the second half Boro looked like a more cohesive unit.

However, Sheringham says he wants his players to ‘express themselves’ on the pitch.

Asked if there was any pressure on him and his players to get a result on Wednesday against Dagenham as the club have not won in their last five matches, Sheringham said: “Why would you worry about pressure when it’s a football match? Just go out there and be clued in about what we need to do defensively and go out and enjoy yourself in attack and produce some displays that people want to see.”

Asked if he wanted his wide players to stick to the lines more to give his side more width, Sheringham added: “Both of them can play centrally and both can play wide. I don’t want [to say to] any of my players ‘that is where you play, that’s where you stay’. I want players to express themselves and show me what they can do.

“If it means coming off the line and joining in then do it. I don’t want regiment one bit.”