Ben McLaughlin desperate to avoid relegation

The 19-year-old, who joined on a month's loan from Premier League Everton last month, saw his deal extended following the 3-3 draw with Eastleigh last weekend.

McLaughlin is loving life at the New Bucks Head as he gets used to playing competitive first-team football in England for the first time in his career.

"To be playing regular football is great for me," McLaughlin said.

"I am really enjoying it here, especially with the gaffer. He is happy with me and I am happy here, so I'm very pleased to be staying.

"But now that has been sorted I'm fully aware there is a lot of hard work ahead and I'm desperate to make sure we stay in this league."

McLaughlin's arrival has coincided with Telford significantly cutting the points defect as they look to avoid relegation from the Conference Premier.

After moving off the foot of the table for the first time in five months, McLaughlin is adamant the team can beat the drop this season.

He said: "We definitely believe we can stay up. The gaffer is really positive, the dressing room is really positive and we are off the bottom of the table now."

"If you look at our last seven results we have only lost two. We'd have been happy with that if we had looked at our fixtures six or seven games back.

"Hopefully we can get a win at home against Dartford on Saturday and kick-on from there."

McLaughlin, who is a member of the Toffees U21s squad, added that the experience of playing in the Conference Premier is making him a better player.

"It is first team football. Every game counts. Everything matters so it is different to where I have come from playing U21s football."