Rising star Vinny Mukendi is confident he can make a big name for himself this season.

The Macc attacker, who has been terrorising defenders with his pace, skill, height, enthusiasm and determination, is confident that he can form part of a fantastic squad this season.

"We’re all getting on really well, there’s a few new lads come in and settled and it’s probably the best squad we’ve had at the club in a long time," he enthused.

"Each player has got something that the club needs, so we should do well, we’ve played well and I think we’ve had a good start to the season."

Although two defeats and a draw doesn’t sound like a good start, the 18-year-old, who made his debut as a substitute on the final day of the 2008/09 season, insists that there’s a lot to come from the squad that Gary Simpson has tweaked over the summer.

"Richard Butcher’s out injured and Matt Hamshaw didn’t train at the start of the week, but no one in the squad is irreplaceable," he added. "If someone’s out then someone else can come in and do a good job for the team."

And as the appearances in the team start to pile up, Mukendi, who stands closer to seven feet than six, says he also has one eye on adding to his as-yet sole international honour.

"I’m used to the pace of first team football, I had about 10 games last year so I’m aiming to be playing in the first team regularly. I played for the Welsh Under-19s last year and I’m definitely hoping to get a few more caps in the future."

Saturday’s defeat to Shrewsbury may have been hard to take for the former youth team whizz-kid but he’s already itching to get out for the next game and, whether it’s as a striker or on the wing, create panic for the opposition.

"We battered Shrewsbury, we just couldn’t score and we were disappointed not to get something," he reflected. "The guys we’re playing against are clever, they know what they’re doing. They’ll drop off you then, as soon as you’ve got the ball down and turned, they’re onto you. You’ve got to stand up, put yourself about and get at them, and show them you’re not scared.

"The more I play the better I get, I’m happy to play anywhere but I do prefer to be out on the wing, you can chase the ball and get running past defenders, I can cover a lot of ground so I hope that I can cause them problems.

"I’m hoping I’ve done enough to get a game against Accrington, it might be a bit of a nasty game but if we can come away with three points it’ll be worth it."