Rebels’ confidence takes a hit after third successive defeat
Slough Town FC: Slough fail to get the rub of the green in defeats against Billericay and Hungerford
Lady luck appears to have deserted Slough Town in recent weeks. Tuesday night's 3-1 defeat to Hungerford Town was their third on the bounce and it's seen them drop to
14th in the table.
Lady luck appears to have deserted Slough Town in recent weeks.
Two weekends ago they more than matched a talented Maidstone United side in an entertaining game at Arbour Park which just tipped the way of the visitors in the closing stages.
This week they were beaten 2-0 by Billericay Town on Saturday having created much the better chances and seen Ryan Bird harshly sent off before half-time for two bookable offences.
Then, on Tuesday night they missed a late penalty and gave away a couple of ‘car crash’ goals as Hungerford Town picked up a 3-1 win at Arbour Park. Baker admitted afterwards the side had been outworked by the Crusaders and is worried that confidence is low and appears to be dwindling with every defeat. They need a win, however, that comes about, but Saturday's trip to Dartford doesn’t look like the easiest game in which to rediscover that missing confidence.
They've dropped to 14th in the table. “Saturday wasn’t a fair reflection of the game,” he said.
“We had the better of the game and we came out having lost.
“We were very harshly undone with Ryan Bird being sent off before halftime, but even then, we were good in the second half. Their keeper was named man-of-the-match in several reports, but the problem is that football is very much about confidence.
“The week before we played Maidstone and it could have gone either way. If we’d have won that we’d probably have been fourth in the table on two points a game. But two games later we’re sitting there on one point a game. It’s very frustrating.
“Football is about confidence and we’ve got senior players who are making errors. Whatever you say and however you set the team up to play, if you make some of the errors we’ve made recently, there’s nothing you can do. We played well in the games against Maidstone and Billericay and we’re not having any level of luck.
“Football in the main is about confidence. When you’ve won a few games, your confidence rises, and it massively helps. We’re running low on confidence right now, but we’ll get that sorted. We must start each game afresh and get that confidence back in the ranks.
“You can lose confidence very quickly, but you can also get it back.
Baker must be feeling a little helpless at present. For the past few matches he’s been unable to go into the changing room before, during or after the game as he’s trying to protect
his father who is unwell and shielding against infection.
While not using this as an excuse for the side’s recent displays, it is a source of frustration to him personally and has altered the dynamic of the side’s joint management team.
“I have my own frustrations at the minute,” he said.
“I can’t go into the changing room to help Jon in that respect because my father’s unwell and is having chemo. I’m up in Norfolk taking him to the hospital and I must make sure I’m not near any kind of infection because he’s obviously seen as susceptible. That has a real impact for me.
“I’m sitting outside when you want to be in there, getting everyone right. For me and Jon, we’ve worked together for 10 years so we have a way of doing things. But that’s not an excuse for anything or the goals we’ve conceded. It’s more about my frustration. We just have to crack on.”
For me and Jon, we’ve worked together for 10 years so we have a way of doing it. But not that that’s got anything to do with the goals we’ve conceded. That’s more just my frustration. We must just crack on.”
Baker doesn’t expect Saturday’s trip to Dartford to be easy for a side that's lacking confidence. But, in the back of their minds, the players have the knowledge they’ve been to Princes Park already this season and come away with a positive result.
The Rebels kicked off the campaign with a 1-0 win over the Darts in the FA Cup, Jack McKnight slotting home the game’s only goal from the penalty spot in the 90th minute.
“I think it’s a completely different kettle of fish from the FA Cup game,” said Baker. “We came under a lot of pressure in that game and won it thanks to a late penalty. They’re a good side. They were beaten at home on Tuesday night but missed seven or
eight good chances as well as a penalty. I don’t know whether that’s a good thing or not but it’s not an easy place to go to.
“They’ve got a good squad of players and I’d expect them to be right up there this season. We must take each game in isolation and not worry about anything else.
“It’s not all doom and gloom though. We’re only one point worse off than where we were at this stage of last season. Losing three games is not the end of the world. We had the same thing a couple of times last season. We’ve come through it before and we’ll come out the other side again. We’ll just keep knocking on the door trying to pick up points.”
Cam McGilp, Max Worsfold, both ankle, and Ben Harris are unlikely to be involved on Saturday, however, Baker is hopeful Guy Hollis and Mark Nisbet will be fit enough to return to the squad.