JOE SKARZ is closing in on 50 first-team starts – but he’s not about to take the L plates off just yet.

While the 19-year-old left-back was hoping to figure for the fifth League I match in a row at home to Bristol Rovers today, he takes nothing for granted under Stan Ternent.

He was given an early indication of the need to keep his feet firmly on the ground when the manager awarded him a three-year contract soon after his arrival, then went on to recruit the hugely experienced former England international David Unsworth.

Homegrown Skarz also faces competition from Robbie Williams, so there’s no way he can let his standards slip.

“With the size of squad we have, I don’t think any player can consider themselves an automatic choice, and I certainly don’t,” said Skarz, who has 46 starts and nine substitute appearances.

Fighting for the shirt has become a way of life for the Netherton-based player.

His first rival was Danny Adams, whose suspension provided the opening for a debut under Peter Jackson in the 1-1 home League I draw with Scunthorpe in November 2006.

Town and Adams parted company the following January, but Jackson then recruited Andy Taylor on loan from Blackburn, meaning Skarz had to be satisfied with a final season’s tally of 16 starts and two sub outings.

With Andy Ritchie having succeeded Jackson at the helm, Skarz was in pole position at the start of last season, but only because of fitness problems for new signing Robbie Williams.

The teenager played in each of Town’s 22 opening matches, but once the former Barnsley man overcame a leg fracture, again found himself sidelined, making one start and six outings from the bench before caretaker manager Gerry Murphy picked him for the final three games.

This time around both Unsworth and Williams got chances before Skarz, an unused sub on four occasions previously, came in for the 3-2 home win over Northampton on September 20.

“It was frustrating, because after signing the new contract, my target was to work hard throughout pre-season and get in the side for the opening game against Stockport,” explained Skarz.

“I knew Robbie Williams might be ahead of me, but then David Unsworth came in as well, and to make matters worse, there weren’t many reserve matches in which to try and impress the manager early in the season.

“Both Unsy and Robbie are quality players who I can learn a lot from, and their presence means I can’t afford to lose focus.

“But that’s the way things should be for any professional footballer, and having got a chance, it’s now up to me to keep working hard in training and playing well in matches to impress the boss.”

Ternent recently spoke of the way young players progress in fits and starts, and Skarz takes his point.

“You seem to make a lot of headway, but then things suddenly slow down for no obvious reason,” he said.

“It might be that as a young player, you’re still growing, or it might be that because you’re still learning the game, consistency is a hard thing to achieve.

“The best thing to do is to put it down to experience and try and learn the lessons.”

Skarz certainly feels his knowledge of the game is improving.

“The current manager is the third I’ve played under, and they’ve all had their different methods,” he said.

“The training we do now is very competitive and very enjoyable, because no two days are ever the same.

“There’s plenty of banter, but plenty of hard work too, and we do a lot of work on formations and systems, which is interesting.

“We’re always well informed on the opposition’s strengths and weaknesses, so while being well versed in the system we’ll be playing, we also know what they’re likely to do, and that’s an important weapon to have.”