The Gaffer reflects on the Whites latest outing.

The Whites fell to a 1-0 defeat on Non League Day, away to St Albans City following an early red card that all but killed the game as a contest in the opening 20 minutes. Tyrone Sterling was deemed the last man when he clipped Chay Cooper who was bearing down on goal and in the 17th minute, already a goal behind, we had it all to do for the next 70 odd minutes. The loss was later compounded by the second booking to Myles Judd as the Whites chased the game.

It was a battling performance from the ten men who fought bravely against a play off chasing St Albans team. It wasn’t the result we wanted but it was a more spirited effort than the defeat last week to Hampton & Richmond.

‘It took for someone to get sent off for us to really kick into gear,’ said Brundle after the match. ‘It’s the fine margins at the moment that don’t seem to be going our way. For 70 minutes I have to give credit to the lads for digging in and even though they had a few chances, we had a couple of our own but these little things are not going our way. You can’t let yourself go away from what you are. We haven’t turned into a bad team over four games but maybe a little bit of luck isn’t going our way but we can change that. We will make sure we have another strong week of training.

These are a very good side, let’s not take that away from them. I was here on Tuesday to watch them against Cheshunt. They were far better today than then and Nelson has made some fantastic saves. We were a little wasteful in the final third which we know has been a theme all season but we just need to grind out a couple of results and look to build on that.’

With Sterling and Judd facing suspensions for the upcoming fixtures, there is a chance for others to stake a claim in the team, most notably Andi Janjeva who replaced Jake Goodman at half-time. Goodman’s injury will be assessed but the early signs are that it could be a couple of games but the Gaffer is sure that Janjeva can step in if required.

‘He done well when he came on, he did the basics and what we asked of him to do. We also have two players back from suspension in Lee Martin and Jordan Higgs. Two big players for us who have been missed in the last two games. They make a massive difference to this team, a bigger difference than they probably don’t get the credit for. That is the heart of where most games are won and lost at this level. We have lacked that little bit over the last two games and the people who have come in have failed to take their chance.

We will look back at the video of the game and decide if we are to appeal against any of the red cards. Most of the people here and even their manager was agreeing but these are the things just not going our way. It’s a tough place to play with eleven this season so to play with ten when we are down to the bare bones, fair play to them. We said at half-time if we could keep them out and get a set piece, we had a chance and the one at the end, Baptiste header, he just got blocked off.

Listen, it’s not all doom and gloom in the camp, there’s a lot of games and points still left on the table. And by the way, the crowd. Absolutely phenomenal. They travelled in their numbers today and I know managers say this all the time but I really mean it, they have been excellent and I can’t thank them enough. Hopefully the tide turns and they can carry on getting behind us like they did when we went six unbeaten. I know they are frustrated but so is everyone and we can only get through this if we are together as a team.’