Promising defensive duo Josh Calvert and Sam Smith will become Workington Reds’ centre-half pairing for years to come, according to veteran Kyle May.

Central defender May, 33, has played in every match so far this season for Workington and has been using his experience to help the team’s two young centre-backs.

Both Calvert, 20, and Smith, 22, have impressed when they have been deployed alongside May at the heart of the Workington defence.

The Reds rearguard have let in just eight goals in the league so far this season, the joint-least in the Evo-Stik Premier Division, and have kept three clean sheets in the last five league games.

May said: “I help Josh and Sam as much as I can. They are both great players and have bright futures.

“On and off the pitch they are really good lads. They take everything in their stride. They are going to be the centre-half pairing for a while to come at Workington.”

However, May isn’t ready to relinquish his spot in the team just yet and believes he is playing some of the best football of his career.

He said: “I worked really hard in pre-season. I got a lot of things sorted out on and off the pitch. It’s the best I have played for six or seven years.

“As a team, it started a bit slowly but the past month we have come together as a team and we can start progressing hopefully.”

Workington will be hoping to return to winning ways on Saturday when they host Mickleover Sports at Borough Park in the league.

Reds were knocked out of the FA Cup by Harrogate Town, who are flying high in the league, on Saturday after a tight 1-0 defeat at Borough Park.

But May, on reflection, can only find positives from the match. “We didn’t let ourselves down by any stretch of the mind,” he said. “We were playing against a team at the top of the league above.

“There was nothing in the game. They didn’t deserve to win. They worked hard and we worked hard. We blocked each other out.”