Gary McCann was upbeat after the defeat to Tonbridge Angels at the weekend. He said, “I thought we played really well and deserved to get something out of the game. We dominated large parts of the game.

“When the opposing goalkeeper is head and shoulders man of the match, it is clear that we had done some things very well. However, I do realise that we should have been more ruthless and efficient in front of goal.

“I am good friends with their manager – Steve McKimm, who played at Hendon in 1994–95 – and he told me that he could have had no complaints if we had got a draw from the game and would not have argued if we had picked up all three points.

“That said, there were things that we can improve on, especially the three goals they scored.

“Things certainly were made much harder for us by a virus that went through the team at the end of the week. Matt Ball, Merrick James Lewis and Reis Stanislaus weren’t available and Keagan Cole was fit only for the bench, but praise to Arthur Lee who also battled through it and put his hand up to start.

“I think the squad is looking stronger than it was a month or two ago. We have worked tirelessly to improve the team and we have made some good signings. Add in the return of both Elliott Brathwaite and Kevin Maclaren from injury. Along with Elliot Charles and we are much stronger than we have been.

“We have only 17 games left to turn it around and we need to pick up points very quickly. We will continue to battle away and I think we need to get 8 wins or 24 points in those 17 games, which will be a big challenge.”