Bartley looks to lift his side in time for Rovers fixture

Saturday's goalless draw against Basingstoke wasn't one of Marlow's worst displays of late.

The Blues once again looked organised and compact in defence and managed to keep a third clean sheet in four matches. However, there was little composure on the ball in an attacking sense, while the hard, dry surface was hardly conducive to free-flowing football.

Despite this they created the game's best chance, when Kameron English hammered the underside of the crossbar shortly after the half-time interval, but the ball bounced away to safety.

Adam Richards and Louis Rogers also had good headed chances from close range but neither found the back of the net, while at the other end Basingstoke also carved out a few opportunities only to be thwarted by Simon Grant or their own wasteful finishing.

“We needed one of those to go in, but it just didn't happen for us today,” said Bartley.

Bartley will try and lift his players in the coming days for Saturday's home game against Sutton Common Rovers, but he must now know his side's chances have all but slipped away.

Those hopes weren't ended by Saturday's result in isolation. They've also lost crucial sixpointers against Uxbridge and Bedfont Sports in recent weeks and been unexpectedly beaten by the likes of Chertsey Town, South Park, and Guernsey.

“We have to approach the games in the right manner to win football matches,” he said. “It's difficult for us now because we need people do us favours and that might not happen. The most important thing is that mentally you get yourself in the right place, you try and win the games and then you just see where that takes us.

“This was a third clean sheet in four matches so from that side of things, we were relatively solid. We didn't give much away but we didn’t get it going the other way.”