Yeovil Town manager Chris Hargreaves said he understands the frustrations of supporters after angry scenes at the end of a 2-0 home defeat to Aldershot Town on Tuesday night.
Two goals in the last five minutes at Huish Park sent the Glovers to a second consecutive defeat and pushed them in to the National League relegation zone with supporters calling on the manager to go at the final whistle.
Speaking to BBC Somerset commentator Ian Randall at the end of the game, Hargreaves said he was “100%” certain that he had the tools he needed to get the club out of trouble.
He said: “I completely understand the annoyance. All I can do is turn up tomorrow and try my best.
“I care about the club and want it to do well. I understand the frustrations and I understand we need to get bodies in to the building.”
The boss pointed to the absence of absence of experienced heads, notably playmaker Lawson D’Ath who was not in the squad, and the late departure of Sam Pearson who has “temporarily returned from his loan spell” from Bristol City to “recover from fatigue“, according to both clubs.
Hargreaves said: “I’m asking a lot of young lads to step up and it is difficult for them and there’s a group of players where some will come through that tough period and some might struggle.
“I’m asking the experienced boys to step up and lead, but it was a tough night from them.
“It’s a very poor result and it’s difficult for some of those lads to get through the period because of their experience.”
On Tuesday night, the Glovers’ fielded a side with an average age of 24.81 years, rising fractionally to 24.85 years with the arrivals of substitutes Chiori Johnson, Will Dawes and Gime Toure.
For context, Aldershot’s starting XI had an average age of 24.72 years, rising to 25.2 years with the arrival of their two substitutes including 34-year-old Kenny Davis, who appeared on the hour mark.
Yeovil gave a debut to 20-year-old midfielder Ewan Clark in the defeat following his arrival on loan from Bristol City, swapping places with young Robin Pearson.
Hargreaves said he was continuing to “work hard” to bring in new players having spoken ahead of last weekend’s 2-0 defeat at Oldham Athletic about the club seeking clearance on a couple of training with the squad.
The boss said he had been close to bringing in players who he believed could have helped the club’s plight.
He said: “It’s a challenge because some players chose to stay at clubs and not risk playing elsewhere, but I’m working all hours to try and get the right player in and be better.
“We’ve been unfortunate with a couple which I think would have made a massive difference to the team and squad, a couple the clubs have decided to make them stay because they have got in their teams. They would’ve made a big difference.”