Mark Beesley: We can’t lose belief

Warrington Town manager Mark Beesley has urged his depleted squad to retain their heart following a difficult outing on Bank Holiday Monday. 

The Yellows were soundly beaten 4-1 by unbeaten Curzon Ashton at the UNIS Compliance Stadium, with former Town duo Stefan Mols and Will Hayhurst playing a starring role for the visitors.

It means the Yellows have been beaten twice over the August double-header, following Saturday’s 2-0 loss at Boston United.

Dylan Mottley-Henry scored his first goal for the club late into the second half, but with the game all-but-done at 3-0 when he headed home, it proved to be scant consolation.

BUY TICKETS: Brackley Town (A)

“From our point of view, it’s clear that our squad depth isn’t good enough, isn’t big enough,” Beesley admitted post-match.

“We’ve got too many injuries and it’s caught up on us today. We’ve had to ask people to play two games in three days when normally we wouldn’t ask them to.

“Fair play to them – they stuck their hand up and had a go.

“For 40 minutes, there was nothing in the game. We knew what they were going to do and they’re good at it.

“We spoke about getting to half-time, changing a few things and getting some fresh legs on in the second half, but then we give two set-piece goals away.

“The second one is never a penalty in a million years, but the first one is terrible, really poor.”

Beesley also admits the Curzon blueprint is something Town must aspire towards if they want to establish themselves as regulars at this level, following last season’s promotion from the Northern Premier League.

“Curzon are a benchmark for small clubs like us at this level,” he added. “They’ve been surviving and thriving for a few years, and it’s clear they’ve got good players and a really good manager.

“From our point of view, we were beaten today, it’s disappointing as a whole, but we can’t lose confidence, we can’t lose belief.

“I must say that the crowd were brilliant. They understand the effort. We’ve got to learn from these sobering experiences. There’s no point feeling sorry for ourselves.

SHOP NOW: Yellows merchandise

“We’ve got nine points from six games – is it a great start? No. It’s an average start, but it’s a start.

“It’s a tough league and every game is a tough game. Teams are ruthless against us, and we’ve got to be more ruthless.”

The Yellows will welcome back influential midfielder Bohan Dixon ahead of Saturday’s trip to Brackley Town, following the completion of his three-match ban.

However, Beesley confirmed post-match that centre-back Evan Gumbs could be set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines with a suspected hernia injury.