Skipper Price has sights set on promotion with Worksop

Central midfielder Price, 37, joined Tigers from Scarborough Athletic after the Seadogs gained promotion into the Evo-Stik Northern Premier League.

And while he’s so far been a key part of the club’s campaign, he feels he’s still not been at his best.

He said: “It’s been a little bit stop-start really, I suppose that would be a fair description. I don’t feel as though I’ve done particularly poorly, but I do feel that there is a lot more to come from me.

“I’ve played in several positions due to different circumstances and it’s been hard to get some fluency and consistency into my game.

“The gaffer and Poults trust me to be able to do different jobs in different positions, which is a real compliment and I’m grateful for it. At times I know I’m not entirely happy and have a five minute rant about it, but if they think it’s best for the team then I’m more than happy to do a job.

“If I’m in the team then I must be doing something right because it’s a strong squad with plenty of competition.”

The 37-year-old started his career as an apprentice at Leeds United in 1997 before going on to be part of a successful Doncaster Rovers youth side in the 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 seasons, signing a full-time professional contract in the summer of 2001.

After suffering injury in November 2002, Jamie joined Halifax Town on a one-month loan to regain match fitness after being out for the remainder of the 2002-03 season.

Price joined York City in 2005 following his release from Rovers and after a season at Bootham Crescent, he signed for Harrogate Town.

He then went on to represent teams like Farsley Celtic, Bradford Park Avenue, Garforth Town and Ossett Town.

He was the first signing made last summer and had little hesitation in making the move.

He said: “I was really chuffed to be the first signing by the gaffer and Poults. I’d spoken to them over the phone, and spoken to a couple of other people, and when I met up they sold the club to me.

“The thing is, when I first signed I wasn’t brought in to be captain. The gaffer had already almost sorted who he wanted to be the captain and he was just waiting for the paperwork to be sorted out.

“It was only on the opening day of the season at Goole that they pulled me to one side and said they had decided that they wanted me to lead the team out for the season.

“I was obviously over the moon because I see it as a real honour to captain a side, especially with the many candidates it could have been in the dressing room. It’s something that I’m really grateful to the gaffer and Poults for.”

Having played at higher levels, it’s taken a little adjusting for Price to adapt to life in the NCEL Premier, with certain aspects more different than others.

He said: “You don’t get 10-0s and 6-5s every other week in other leagues. The higher you go the harder it is to score.

“There is an abundance of attacking talent in this country in non-league football, but good, consistent defenders are at a premium, so the best ones play at the highest level and don’t usually filter down this far.

“That means that most teams have several good attackers who outnumber the good defenders.

“Across this league so far, it’s shown me that there are very, very good attacking players. On the flip-side defending doesn’t seem to be a huge interest to players.

“It’s great for the neutral but the fans must be going home at times thinking they have half a chance of getting a game the following week in defence.”

Price now hopes to see Worksop gain promotion from a notoriously difficult division in which to do so.

He added: “ I signed here to get promoted. The squad that has been brought together is strong enough to go up.

“There are two or three other teams who are in the same boat but it’s about consistency. We need to improve and start producing quality performances for longer periods of games and not just 20 minutes here and there.”