Gary McCann couldn't hide his disappointment at the performance and defeat against East Thurrock. He said, "I think that this was a game too far for us. A number of players looked like they were running on empty. But we were very poor today and got what we deserved.

"This was a 6-1 result that was entirely merited. Sam Higgins was unstoppable today, scoring a hat-trick and setting up another goal too. He showed why he has spent most of the season playing the Conference South.

"I don't think there was one player who won his individual battle against his East Thurrock opponent. And there were a number of players whose performance was completely substandard.

"We did lose two or three very key players to injury and we were not the same after they went off. I am going to have to consider making a number of changes for the two games in three days at the end of the week."