Devonshire Colts midfielder Phil Anderson believes captain Aljame Zuill will make an immediate impact in his new role as player/coach when the side take on Southampton Rangers at White Hill Field in the first round of the Friendship Cup on Sunday.

Zuill, along with Keishon Smith, will take over the reins at the club with coach Ray Jones set to face a lengthy two-year suspension from the game, a decision that was handed down by a Bermuda Football Association (BFA) appeals committee.

Anderson has been coached by both Smith and Jones in recent times and is backing the new combination of Zuill and Smith to overcome the bitter taste left by what he sees as the harsh treatment handed out to Jones by the powers-that-be.

"I was surprised at the stance that the football association has taken, especially in comparison to some of the more serious offences that players and coaches have committed previously," said Anderson.

"When you see players who have done violent misconduct or been abusive to the referees and have had lesser sentencing, it makes you wonder if it is personal."

Bitterness aside, Anderson believes that Colts need to use the episode to drag themselves off the foot of the table.

"This will certainly have a negative impact not having Ray on the sidelines," he said.

"However, the players themselves need to show their strength and battle through the position that we have put ourselves in, which is at the foot of the table.

"I have played under the combination of Ray and Keishon in the Island Soccer League (ISL) and they worked quite well together.

"Aljame will have a lot of respect from the players, he is the captain of the club and has years of experience in the game

"So that will be positive to us as we prepare for the second half of the season. Given a bit of dedication from the both of them they could produce a good side."

Colts enter the second half of the season lying at the bottom of the league and precious little time to make serious inroads into catching the teams above them.

With a win certain to give the side some much needed momentum, Anderson remains confident that his side can claw their way out of the relegation zone.

Noting that the second half of the season has been a role reversal in past years with many leaders falling to the wayside whiles relegation teams make their move, he hopes to have his side can duplicate this feat.

"Going into the second half of the season, if we can get a win early whether it be in the league or a cup, a win will start to give us confidence which is what we are missing a little bit of right now.

"We certainly have the talent in the team, as we showed last year being only two points behind the leaders going to the half way mark.

"The league has shown historically that it is a season of the halves, which I don't understand.

"A side can be top of the table before Christmas and completely disintegrate, while sides at the bottom show character and strength and move upwards.

"So we will be taking heart from that note and move forward

"If we can get some stability in the team and our formation we will be ok."

n Please note that the name of the Wolves goal scorer printed in the First Division round-up in Monday's Royal Gazette was Russ Ford II, not Russell Forde.