DAVE Reynolds has been backed to fire himself back into contention for the Midland Football League’s golden boot in spite of a diminished return of late.

Reynolds, who racked up more than 50 goals for Malvern Town last season, remains Worcester City’s top scorer with 16 in all competitions so far.

The wily fox in the box forged a fruitful partnership with Mark Danks in the opening weeks of the season and netted nine times in his opening 10 league outings.

Cup goals have boosted his tally since then but Premier Division strikes have been harder to come by with two in his past six starts and three substitute appearances.

However, joint-boss John Snape remains content with his hitman’s work-rate and confident his free-scoring touch will return with a little help from mentor Lee Hughes.

“Dave had a couple of half-chances against Bromsgrove and Lye that would have been goals earlier in the season, a lot of it is down to luck,” said Snape.

“There is not always a particular reason for these things and nothing significant has changed about his game.

“Maybe teams have become aware of his strength and power and it will be a case of Dave continuing what he does like he has from day one.

“The big thing with any player is whether they are still putting in a shift and Dave is certainly doing that, there is plenty more to come from him and I am sure he will be up there with the leading goal scorers come the end of the season.

“There is no disappointment from our point of view. This is his first season at this level and I think he has been fantastic so far both in terms of ability and attitude.

“His work rate and commitment are first class. Like any good striker he has been disappointed not to score as regularly as he had been and confidence in any player can go up and down.

“When you’re working through these kinds of spells, the belief has to be there that he will score that next chance and Dave has that in abundance.

“Lee has been working with him all along, he has had some goal droughts at big clubs and is great to have around.

“Hopefully Dave will catch the break he deserves soon because we are certainly going to need him with more than half a season to fit into the final 14 weeks.”

Reynolds had been a doubt for Saturday’s postponed home clash with Rocester having missed training on Thursday with a sore knee but he should be fit to feature in tomorrow’s trip to Westfields (7.45).