Manager Chris Richards admitted his spirits have been lifted by the response of his Ludlow Town players in the aftermath of last Saturday’s six-goal drubbing by Bewdley.
In the only West Midland League game to survive the frost, Town crashed 6-0 to their high-flying visitors in their first competitive outing on the artificial surface at the SBS Stadium.
That result left Ludlow languishing in the lower reaches of the table, but Richards was heartened by his players’ reaction in training this week.
“If they couldn’t be bothered, then I’d think why should I,” he said.
“But there’s a good spirit among the lads. I couldn’t fault their effort last Saturday, but we were beaten by a better side.
“They have come off the pitch wanting to learn. One of the problems is that we’ve not been able to train enough due to college commitments.
“But the lads were keen to find a slot this week and agreed we need to train more together as a squad.
“We can’t just turn up on a Saturday and expect to do it.
“We had 12 players training on Tuesday, everyone who could be there was there and it was a good response.
“I’m now looking for a good reaction on the pitch against Bromyard Town tomorrow.
“We lost there away, but if we’re going to compete in this league then these games we have to look to win.”
Boss Richards admitted his side were outclassed last Saturday as they remain a disappointing fourth from bottom in the league.
“We wanted to go into the new year and get off to a good start so, being the only game on in Shropshire, it was disappointing to lose like we did in front of a big crowd,” he said.
“We are a young side, and they gave us a bit of a lesson.
“It was men against boys really. My oldest lad was 26, and the rest are 21 or 22.
“We were just a bit naive, and we do need more experience on the park.”
Richards added: “If there was one team I did not want to play on an artificial surface then it was Bewdley who are one of the best footballing sides in the league
“I don’t think the pitch helped us to be honest.
“It played superbly and that allowed them to pass it around and tear us apart.”
Ludlow’s first appearance on their hi-tech surface was one to forget as they found themselves two goals down inside the first five minutes.
In-form Bewdley were dominant in all facets of the game as they bossed for the most part to boost their title claims.
Despite the dismal start which saw some poor defending enable the visitors to give themselves a two-goal cushion, Ludlow rallied in an encouraging 20-minute spell as they came more into the game.
But they were unable to maintain that momentum and more bad defending allowed Bewdley to nick another goal as they carved out a three-goal interval lead.
The second half produced more of the same, with Ludlow only able to create half chances while Bewdley scored three more times to run out convincing winners and keep the pressure on current leaders AFC Wulfrunians.
Ludlow had ex-Manchester United trainee Sean Evans in their ranks as his current club, Cinderford Town, were without any action.
But there was nothing the midfielder could do as the south Shropshire men ended up well beaten.
Luke Hicks returns from suspension to boost the defence against visitors Bromyard Town tomorrow, while Adam Fisher also steps back for Ludlow after missing last weekend’s match.