LOSING proven goalscorer Lauren Kayll to Swindon Town certainly acted as a blow to Royal Wootton Bassett Ladies joint boss Jonny House.

But he and co-manager Dave Goddard appear to have unearthed a new talent up front in the shape of 16-year-old Libby Davies.

Davies scored on debut in Bassett’s 3-2 win over Middlezoy Rovers in the Pat Snowden Cup quarter final two weeks ago, but she has frustratingly been denied the opportunity to add to that tally because of the poor recent weather.

Postponed fixtures against Middlezoy and Abingdon in the league have rather stalled the club’s winter progress, though they still sit top of the division with 21 points secured from nine games.

And Davies could be a key cog in Bassett’s wheel as the club bids to win back-to-back promotions.

House said: “Libby (Davies) has been training on and off throughout the season and has really hit the ground the running.

“It’s a shame she hasn’t been able to follow up her goal because of the weather, but everyone is fit and we’re all itching to go.”

This weekend, Bassett face their biggest rivals for the South West Women’s Football League Premier Division title as third placed Portishead – currently four points short of Bassett but with two games in hand – host House’s girls.

House has no worries regarding his squad’s concerning fixture lull given that training has been performed at a competitive tempo.

He said: “It’s frustrating (the weather), but every team is in the same boat.

“We’ve trained every week, and players know what is expected of them – so training has been as good as it has ever been in the past few weeks.

“We’ve tried to arrange friendlies, but teams can’t get pitches because of the rainfall.

“The team has exceeded our expectation this season, definitely.

“Players have adapted to the division well and we have been able to move training on well.

“There are several established teams in our league, and I wanted us to disrupt them – we’ve done just that.

“It sounds cliché, but given the quality we’ve added we have a hungry squad this season which is committed to the cause.

“The quality of training is reflected in games.”

Elsewhere, Swindon Town Women will be looking to bounce back following their 3-1 defeat to Southampton at the weekend.

They play Maidenhead at home in the FA Women’s National League on Sunday.