STRATFORD Town have been told they need to produce their ‘A game’ every week to erase the misery of their five-goal drubbing last weekend.
Manager Carl Adams described their 5-0 home defeat to Weymouth as ‘a bad day at the office’.
The boss described the Terras’ performance as the most impressive by any side Town have faced so far in the Evo-Stik Southern Premier – but it was also a big lesson for Town.
Adams says the players need to bounce back with a positive show and result when they meet Cambridge City tomorrow (Saturday) at their St Ives home.
“Saturday was a hammering, there’s no hiding from that,” said Adams. “We were poor and it didn’t help having Richard Gregory sent off, but Weymouth were the best team we’ve played by far.
“Even at our best we might have lost but we need to produce our A game in every match we play.
“We’re a young side and we are going to have hit and miss days. You are striving for that consistency but I think inconsistency probably sums up the league.
“We beat Frome 3-0, then lose 5-0 to Weymouth. Chippenham go to King’s Lynn and lose 4-0 and then King’s Lynn draw with Kings Langley and Chippenham win 3-1 at Dorchester. You can’t work out this league.”
Town slipped to 15th in the table after only their third defeat of the season, but Adams says they cannot let the loss dent their confidence ahead of the trip to second from bottom Cambridge.
“We’ve got to forget last Saturday. That’s gone,” said Adams. “We need to look forward and bounce back against Cambridge.
“We’ve played a lot of the big-hitters in the league – Hitchin, Slough, Leamington, Kettering and Weymouth – and generally we’ve done ourselves justice. We didn’t last week so we’ve got to go to Cambridge and perform.”
Gregory will face a three-match ban after he kicked out at defender Stephane Zubar but fellow front-runner Dior Angus is available after completing his suspension.
On-loan Edji Mbunga has returned to Birmingham City after the end of his one-month stay but Adams is confident he has enough numbers in the squad.
Town are expected to make wholesale changes for Tuesday’s trip to Redditch United for their Southern League Challenge Cup first round derby.
Fit-again James Cutts, Charlie Evans, Charlie Faulkner and Luke Fox, who is having some games at Knowle, are all likely to feature, with Adams hinting some of this season’s youth team will also be involved.
