Manager Danny Johnson pulled no punches in his assessment of his teams 4-0 loss at North Ferriby yesterday. The manager told the AUFC website that his team’s performance was possibly his worst as Ashton United manager but said his team will certainly bounce back quickly.

The gaffer explains ‘I will be looking for a reaction on Tuesday at Frickley. That certainly wasn’t good enough and we fell well below the standard we have set so far this season. Without going into too much detail and naming names I felt I got the team selection wrong. A couple of players are suffering with lack of form and fitness so maybe I should have utilised the squad a little better. Even so we should have been much better than that’.

‘In fact I would say that was possibly the worst display since I took over in April 2007. I can’t accept what we produced yesterday and neither should the players. We had no zest, no zip or enthusiasm for the game and we looked more like a relegation threatened team rather than a team competing at the top end of the table. It’s a funny old league though as I wouldn’t have expected Nantwich to lose 4-0 at home to Boston! We need to get our own house in order quite quickly now and bounce back with a decent performance on Tuesday. I’ve got big belief in the lads and I am sure they will battle their way through this difficult time’.

‘However, I don’t think we have been that great for a few weeks now and if things don’t change then unfortunately I will have to do something about it. I am certainly on the look out for a couple of players in certain areas due a number of reasons. The first reason is that we need someone to stick the ball in the back of the net for us on a regular basis but we can’t hide from the fact that we have also conceded 15 goals in our last 5 games. When I signed the likes of Craig Robinson, Ian Kearney, Alex Frost, Danny Caldecott, Terry Smith etc I expected us to be as solid as any team in this league. I am sure most would agree with that but they need help from the lads in front of them. Were not defending well enough as a team which is something I need to address and the sooner I do that the better’.

We now lose Leon Henry for a few weeks due to suspension which is a bit of a blow as I felt Leon was becoming a big player for us. We will look to keep him as fit as we can and hopefully when his suspension is over he will be like a new signing. I have recently placed 7 days notice of approach on a midfield player and hopefully he will agree to sign for us sometime next week. I am really looking forward to the challenge that we face and hopefully the players are too. It’s a case of sticking together and pulling each other through. If that doesn’t happen then I will need to make changes, I sincerely hope it doesn’t come to that but I have a job to at Ashton United Football Club and I will do that to the best of my ability’.