Eyebrows raised by defeat
There were reasons for United’s heavy cup loss but Dev doesn’t want to make excuses
There were reasons and explanations for Saturday's eye-opening 7-4 FA Cup defeat at FC Halifax Town, but Maidenhead United boss Alan Devonshire didn't really want to make excuses for such a poor defensive display.
The United boss was forced to make five changes to the side for the firstround tie, with midfielder Jay Mingi playing in an unfamiliar right-back back position due to the absence of a string of defenders including Ryheem Sheckleford, Remy Clerima and Shaun Donnellan.
Goalkeeper James Holden was also recalled to the first team for the injured Rhys Lovett while central defender Will De Havilland is set to miss the next few weeks after straining his hamstring.
The changes were contributory factors to the side conceding seven goals at the Shay, and bowing out of the competition in ignominious circumstances, however, Devonshire would prefer to put all that behind him and focus on another tough looking league tie at home to Dagenham & Redbridge on Saturday.
United aren't in dreadful league form, having picked up a couple of encouraging wins over Woking and Wrexham prior to their narrow 1-0 defeat at Eastleigh the week before last, however, they remain towards the bottom of the National League table and could do with a solid home win to lift spirits once again.
Reflecting on Saturday's display, Devonshire said: “Yeah, listen, at the end of the day we gave some poor goals away. We just had a weird performance. If you score four goals away from home you expect to win a game of football, but we just defended so poorly.
“We had to put a midfielder (Mingi) at right back which probably didn't help, but listen, it is what it is, and we have to move on.
“You couldn’t imagine it would be 4-3 at half-time, in any game we play, but every shot went in and that was for both sides.
“It was disappointing but there were reasons for it. We had some injuries. Rhys Lovett, the goalkeeper, was injured and only fit enough to be on the bench. And we had a few boys who weren't quite fit enough who were also on the bench.
“I had to make those changes. I wouldn't have changed the side but for the injuries and that.
“Will De Havilland was injured, Remy (Clerima) was injured, Ryheem (Sheckleford) was injured, Shaun Donnellan was injured, so, it wasn’t through choice.”
Devonshire hopes to have a few of his injured players back for Saturday's visit of the Daggers to York Road but will have to wait and see who's fit and available at training on Thursday evening. The United boss can't take much solace in the fixture list either, with the Magpies set to play four of the top eight sides in their next six matches, however, they've made a habit of upsetting the odds in recent seasons and fans will be desperately hoping that continues to be the case.
They recently got the better of Wrexham at York Road, having started with six players aged under 22, so the future looks reasonably bright for a squad that's gaining experience with every match they play.
“I hope so (players returning to the team on Saturday) because they're important players and we can't afford to be without our better players, even for one or two matches.
“But listen, you can’t do anything about injuries. It’s part of the sport we’re in. Ryheem has come back, and he’s now picked up a bad ankle.
“Will De Havilland has done his hamstring, so that’s going to be a few weeks. That’s just the way it’s working out now. I’m hoping to get players back, yes, but we’ll just have to wait and see who’s fit and available when we train on Thursday.”
Dagenham also exited the FA Cup on Monday evening after losing 1-0 to Salford. Devonshire watched the game and felt they should have got a result on the night. He also thinks they'll finish in the play-offs this season so is anticipating a difficult afternoon on Saturday.
“When you let in seven it's going to affect your confidence,” he said. “It doesn't matter who you are, and we've got some young players. Against Wrexham we had six players who were under 22 starting that game,
“We are young, maybe that's the way forward, but time will tell. For two young boys (Josh Kelly and Emile Acquah) to get two goals each is good, but it’s about winning games, at the end of the day we want to win.”
He added: “Dagenham are a very good side and I think they'll be in the play-offs.
“I hope we'll have a couple of players back for it, but I won't know until Thursday. I saw their game on Monday and they should have got a result against Salford. They've got some good players and a big squad.
“We know we’re a long way off where we need to be. We’ve had a couple of good performances, against Wrexham and Woking, but we know it’s going to be tough the next 10 games and we’ll see how we go. We always take batches of 10 games at a time and see where we’re at.”