Hinckley AFC manager Courtney Belford admitted there were “more negatives than positives” to come from Saturday’s 3-3 draw with Graham Street Prims.
The manager was pleased with his side’s character to come from behind with ten men and take the lead in the second half.
But he was frustrated with their defending that he says needs to be far more ruthless over the winter.
He said: “On a day like that, where the winds are so strong, it makes it a 50/50 game. I still think we did enough to win it but if you don’t put your body on the line and defend, you don’t win.
“There’s got to be more desire to keep the ball out of the net. That’s what it comes down to. We showed great character in the second half to come from behind with ten men but again not done enough to keep the ball out of the net. We made poor decisions.
“Everyone’s got to have that desire to put your body on the line. If you’ve not got that, you’ll be at this level of football for a long time.”
After a first half red card, Hinckley fought back from 2-1 down at the break but Belford felt his side would have won with 11 men on the pitch. He also said the disciplinary record this season hasn’t been good enough.
But a change of shape midway through the second half returned the influential Tom Weale to midfield with Ryan Harkin coming on up front. That was the point Hinckley started to turn the screw.
“We had to be brave and change shape. We went two up front. Ryan (Harkin) is a goalscorer, he was fantastic when he came on.
“We wanted to start Tom up front in those conditions to get the ball up to him but we didn’t get close enough for that to work.
“We had to roll the dice, we got it to 3-2. That’s when you have to put your body on the line for 15 minutes but if you haven’t got that desire, you won’t win games.”
Hinckley are now back at Kirkby Road on Tuesday for the first of two home games in three days. They face West Bridgford first, before welcoming Borrowash Victoria for some Friday night football under the lights.
Belford says it will be good to be back on a surface they can trust – but they can’t just rely on that method to win games. “We’ve got to make sure we can play two styles.
“If we win every home game but don’t do the business away in the winter then we won’t go up. We’ve got to make sure we’ve got the characters to win games away.
“It’s nice to be back at Barwell, the fans have been fantastic turning up in numbers.
“We’re still only five points off top with a game in hand so there’s no panic. But we’ve got to capitalise when we get ourselves ahead with ten men in the second half.”
