TOWERING defender Luke Waterfall wants to become Gainsborough Trinity's set-piece sensation.

The 19-year-old defender bagged a brace against former club Ilkeston Town on Monday as Trinity ended a run of three successive defeats with a huge 5-2 win.

Ahead of Gainsborough's latest Blue Square Bet North trip to Stalybridge Celtic tomorrow (3pm), Waterfall has set a target of capitalising on his bank holiday bonanza.

"I've been getting chances quite a lot but not putting any away, so I was pleased to score twice against Ilkeston," said Waterfall, who began his career as a youth-team player with Barnsley.

"In fact, I've missed quite a few sitters, so if I can score once or twice more this season then I can help out the team more.

"We have good set-piece takers in Paul Mayo and Jamie Clarke so it's my job to get on the end of those deliveries.

"I guess it was always going to happen that I'd score my first goals of the season against my former club. It's a shame in a way because I still have quite a few friends there but the result was important as we've had quite a rough patch at the start of the season."

The "rough patch" to which Waterfall refers has seen Trinity enter the season minus the services of club captain Gavin Cowan, a player chairman Peter Swann has labelled "the best defender in the league".

As a result, manager Brian Little has recruited Mark Hume, from Retford United, and Andrew Milne, on loan from Barrow.

Waterfall admitted it was difficult to adapt to the early-season changes to Trinity's line-up, but some advice from former professional Mark Greaves has helped.

"We have been chopping and changing quite a bit," said Waterfall, who began the most recent Trinity game in the centre of a back three with Andrew Boyce and Andrew Milne.

"I'm used to a back four, but I've played as one of three centre-backs before – albeit on the right side, whereas the manager here plays me in the middle, which I prefer.

"The only issue is playing with wing-backs. If they push up too much you can get caught out a little, but we are all learning.

"I speak to Mark Greaves quite a lot as I'm still developing as a player and it's good to get advice.

"Before every game he has a little word in my ear and gives me little pointers. He is a really experienced Football League player so it's really valuable advice."

Waterfall believes Trinity can kick-on this season following their poor start, with the 5-2 victory against Ilkeston providing a possible turning point.

"The lads are pretty confident of picking up three points wherever we go," said Waterfall, who travels in from his Sheffield home with goalkeeper Phil Barnes and winger Danny Frost.

"At the moment everyone is on a high following the result on Monday and I thought we played quite well.

"The manager was pleased following the Ilkleston match that we had scored five, but obviously he was not so pleased with the two goals we conceded.

"However, it's a real boost to everyone to get three points on the board. We'd already got a decent result at home against Workington on Saturday (a 1-1 draw) so it was positive to build on that performance.

"We have a good batch of lads at this football club and some of the players have real quality for this division, so hopefully we will be able to pick up now."

Stalybridge host Trinity following a season which began with some promise, but has recently taken a turn for the worse.

Celtic opened their account with two victories against Redditch and Blyth Spartans, but have suffered successive defeats to Vauxhall Motors (1-4, home), Nuneaton (1-2, away) and Harrogate Town (0-1, home).

Craig Hobson will miss the game as he is serving the second match of a three-game suspension, while Jody Banim is doubtful with a hamstring injury.

For Gainsborough, Josh Davies should be fully fit following his recovery from a shin injury, but Cowan and Emika Nwadkike are definitely out while there is still a doubt over the fitness of striker Luke Beckett, who is suffering from a groin strain.

TRINITY: Barnes, Ward, Peat, Mayo, Clarke, Milne, Hume, Waterfall, Boyce, Hibbert, Mettam, McMahon, Aiston, Louis, Greaves, Spafford, Frost, Davies.