Boss Chris Richards blasted his Ludlow Town team’s attitude after they crashed to their heaviest defeat of the season in the West Midland League premier division.
The south Shropshire men turned in a distinctly “end of season” display as they slumped 6-1 at home to Brierley and Withymoor last weekend.
And with three games still left to play this term, Richards is anxious his mid-table charges show more desire and hunger despite there being little at stake in the run-in.
“My main issue was with the way the players approached the game,” said Richards.
“They know that we are not going to go up or down and showed no fight which was very disappointing.
“Only four or five of the players put in the kind of effort you’d expect, and those kind of performances undo all the good work this season.
“The performance was poor and we got what we deserved. We did not apply ourselves, and we got into the bad habits that I thought we had put behind us.”
He added: “It was disappointing as we have been working hard and have looked a lot more disciplined this season.
“But with those kind of displays, you can quickly blow all the good work.”
The encounter started badly for Ludlow who found themselves a goal down after just two minutes – which was to set the tone for the rest of the afternoon.
They trailed 3-0 at half time and, despite some stern words at the interval, the second half was not much better despite a consolation goal from Marcus Sharrad.
However, they have a chance to put that result behind them when they visit Old Wulfrunians tomorrow.
Richards knows his players will need to improve against a well-organised side who drew 1-1 at the SBS Stadium just a few weeks ago.
Forward Olly Kesterton has been ruled out for the rest of the season through injury while Liam Turner is unlikely to figure in tomorrow’s action after suffering from mumps.
