RADCLIFFE Borough manager Bill Prendergast is confident that his side will triumph this season, despite suffering adversity in the opening week.

Right-back Emmanuel Dube-Palmer suffered a double leg break and a dislocated ankle in Saturday's 2-0 defeat at Brighouse Town.

Boro then conceded three goals in the dying minutes against Mossley on Tuesday to lose their opening home match 4-3.

But Prendergast says none of his players' heads have dropped, quite the opposite in fact.

"They might have lost on Tuesday night but the defeat was actually great for team spirit," said the Boro boss.

"They really came together in the dressing room after the game and I saw a determination in the lads to put it right – starting with Saturday's trip to Droylsden in the FA Cup.

"It's fair to say that the opening week did not exactly go as we had planned, but it has been good from a coaching point of view.

"You don't really learn anything about your players when they win, it is when they lose that you really see what they are made of.

"Tuesday night's defeat was very hard to take, and we will be out on the training pitch working on correcting what went wrong, but I was impressed with the spirit this has created in the camp.

"And I am confident that if we can keep that spirit then results will very quickly turn in our favour."

Boro's task against Mossley was made all the more difficult by a first-half sending off for striker Abou Sonogo.

He was shown a straight red card in the 45th minute following a scuffle in the box and Mossley scored from the resulting penalty.

Prendergast's men were winning 2-0 at that point, with Elliot Rokka running the show.

Rokka went on to score his second of the night to put 10-man Boro 3-1 up, and while Mossley eventually made their man-advantage count, the result did not detract from the midfielder's glittering display.

“Elliot Rokka is absolutely outstanding," said Prendergast. "He needs to move into full-time football and I expect him to have a meteoric rise.

"Having him here and watching the way he graces the field is terrific.

"What you don’t see is the kid is coming to extra technical sessions. So we are working hard all the time."

While Rokka is certain to be one of the first names on the team sheet for Saturday's preliminary-round tie at Droylsden in the FA Cup, Prendergast will be without the services of Dube-Palmer.

"It was a terrible injury," said Prendergast. "He did not see it coming and his ankle has just completely given way underneath him.

"I was in the hospital with him until the early hours and again early the next morning.

"Initially, he was due to have surgery to put in a plate and pin it down, but it looks as if he will not need one now as the cast has pushed it back in place.

"He was at the match on Tuesday, which was great for the lads to see, and I hope he is able to make a full recovery now."