STRIKER Martin Paul is not afraid to make his voice heard in the dressing room when things are going wrong, and it is all with manager Steve White's blessing.

He has been charged by White to help gee up the younger players around him. "Steve has given me licence to speak up in the drssing room,'' he said.

"He told me I should be able to voice my opinions when things need to be said. It is not about being personal or naming names. If it gets the best out of people by ruffling a few feathers it is good for the team.''

Paul, known as Birdy to teammates was critical last week of his team's second-half showing against Grantham when they surrendered a 2-1 lead. On Saturday he spoke up againat half-time to help insoire a second-half fightback against Hinckley.

The visitors' less than subtle use of violence had angered many of the younger players but Paul thinks they will have to get used to it.

"For me it was just a normal Dr Martens game. They obviously targeted one or two of the younger players. But I said we just have to get on with it, it is part of the game.

"At half-time one or two of the older players were saying we can't afford to think 'oh we've lost this, we can win next week' we are running out of games and if we win now we take a bit of the presure off us.

"We went out and did that with a never say die attitude. We were the fitter team and I think we showed a lot of self-belief.''

The 29-year-old is a little bemused at being cast as one of the dressing room's seasoned pros. "I still think I am just a 24 or 25-year-old naively running round and concentrating on my game. It's a bit of a surprise when people look at you in your late 20s and want to know what you think about things. But we have got a few players who are a very inexperienced and very naive and I have been around a while.''

Young striker James Constable was one of the chief victims but Paul told him he had better get used to it.

"To be honest I am surprised it hasn't happened sooner. When team shear about a young player like him who is doing well they will decide to get tough with him to se how he handles it. I thought it would happen to him sooner.''

Paul's involvement on the field in recent weeks has all been as a sub, coming off the bench to change the game on more than one occasion.

On Saturday it was more of the same as Steve White took off defender Colin Towler and sent Paul as skipper on to bolster the attack.

He said: "I am fed-up with the super sub thing. I am just coming on and doing a job. I sometimes wonder if it would be better to come on and be rubbish and then Steve might say we'd better play you from the start then!''