LAKE Albert are confident the club's young talent will ensure they remain a premiership contender this season despite the loss of several experienced key players.
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The Sharks will enter 2020 without a number of players from last year's grand final team including creative midfielder and 2019 player of the year Ben Matthews, who has moved to Adelaide for university.
Others who won't wear the red and black in 2020 are key defender Ben Mavor after the ruptured his ACL in the 2-1 grand final loss to Hanwood, his brother Cam (back) and dynamic winger James Trevaskis (sabbatical).
Experienced midfielder Justin Curran has returned to his former club after a stint with Wagga City, while Sharks coach Mitch Tinnock has also lured Moses Redamwang from the Wanderers.
"We're going to have a fair few changes but we've got plenty of depth, some new people coming in and we'll probably look to promote a couple of the younger lads," Tinnock said.
"Losing all those quality players is very difficult, but in saying that we're still reasonably confident we've got a solid squad, and good enough players to play finals and make a push.
"The vibe is really good at training, I think we'll still have a decent enough team to do well."
Tinnock said he's looking forward to working with some young players promoted from the lower grades.
"We've got a huge pack of quality juniors coming through, there's a bunch of them who are 17 or 18 that will get some minutes in first grade, and they more they play seniors the quicker they'll improve," he said.
"It will be a good opportunity to give those guys a bit of a chance."
Lake Albert will play a trial match against Pascoe Cup newcomers Albury City FC at Rawlings Park on Sunday from 2pm.
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