Marcus Ebdon has called on his Spalding United side to bounce back from an “awful” 3-0 home defeat against Gresley on Monday.
Goals from Gary Ricketts (pen 32 & 82) and Jordan Ball (57) eased the lowly visitors to victory at the Sir Halley Stewart Playing Field – and sentenced them to a fourth successive defeat in Evo-Stik League First Division South.
Despite the disastrous run, the Tulips are still sitting pretty in fourth place in the table ahead of Saturday’s trip to 17th-placed Stocksbridge Park Steels (3pm).
Having also lost 1-0 at Lincoln United on Boxing Day, Ebdon admits the results “soured his Christmas” – and is demanding an improvement from his charges.
He said: “We were absolutely awful on Saturday. It was a very poor performance.
“We’ve been missing a few players over the last couple of games, but the lads need to apply themselves better.
“I think we’ve especially missed Josh Moreman. With Jake Newman also leaving, we’ve looked very lightweight in attack.
“We just didn’t ever look like scoring on Saturday.
“I know we’re capable of much better and I want to see us return to the kind of performance we were putting in when I first took the job.
“Saturday at Stocksbridge won’t be easy, it’s never an easy place to go for any team.
“Thankfully, we’ve got Josh Moreman back. We’re also actively looking to add to the squad, but Christmas and New Year is a hard time to recruit players.”
Spalding failed to register a shot on target in the first half – and fell behind on 32 minutes when Ricketts was fouled in the box by Neal Spafford. He picked himself up to bury the penalty.
Ethan Lee saw a goal ruled out for offside after the break, but the Tulips soon fell 2-0 down when Ball finished off a swift breakaway.
Spalding’s misery was complete when Ricketts bagged his second eight minutes from time for a Gresley side that are toiling in 18th position in the standings.
Tulips: Duggan, Humble, Jackson, Spafford (Sanders), Stainfield, Banister, Walker, Lawlor, Lucan (Waumsley), Graham, Lee. Not used: Fife, Farrell, Hussey.
MOTM: Stainfield.
Attendance: 146.
