Manager John Coleman reflects on Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Dagenham and Redbridge, and gives an update on his efforts to strengthen the squad.
“I’m gutted about the result,” said Coleman. “I thought it was a professional performance up until the last 20 minutes but we’ve gone to sleep again and we’ve cost ourselves. We’re the patron saint of soft goals because we’re not conceding good goals, we’re conceding really poor goals and that is something that possibly a change in personnel might address.
“We had a cracking following at Dagenham and I really feel for those who made the long journey. The fans were great in numbers and the support was very good so it is difficult when you can’t reward them. It wasn’t for the want of trying but we’ve shown once again how naïve we’ve been all season and we’ve been punished again. It can’t keep going on – we need to make changes and we need to bring people in, we’re doing our best to do that.
“We’ve got to keep going, we can’t let our heads drop. Dagenham was another set-back and we seem to be having lots of those at the moment, but hopefully in the long run it’ll make us stronger. I know at the time it doesn’t feel that way because it is really heart-breaking, but myself and Jimmy are two very determined characters. I know we let ourselves down on Saturday but this Saturday is another day and it is chance to get it right.”
It has been no secret that Coleman is looking to strengthen his squad defensively and he says work is continuing in order to do that: “We have been trying but it has been difficult because the players that we have identified are out of our price range, while others are not being let out by their parent club. But we keep trying on a daily basis, and I continue to be on the phone on an hourly basis as things are always changing.
“We need to re-shape the squad, there is no getting away from that, and that has started with the departure of Ian (Craney) and Ray (Putterill). I expect more people to go before the end of the month.”