Yeovil Town boss Chris Hargreaves pointed to inexperience in his team after they recorded their seventh draw of the National League season at Dorking Wanderers on Tuesday night.
The Glovers’ boss was without defenders Jamie Reckord and Ben Richards-Everton through injury for the fixture with the team taking the field at Meadowbank having an average age of just over 23.5 years old, rising to nearly 24 years after his three substitutions.
He admitted that he was “not happy” with his side’s record this season and said he is looking to bring in new players before the weekend’s home match with Solihull Moors.
Asked by BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins whether he was frustrated to see his side surrender another lead, Hargreaves said: “Sometimes there’s an element of inexperience on the pitch. We have a little bit of experience in the team, but losing Jamie Reckord and Ben Richards-Everton before the game was obviously a blow, so we had to shuffle it quickly.
“It’s not so much about relinquishing leads, its more about not scoring when we do get chances. Today we didn’t create a great deal, but when we did it was just the wrong choice of pass and maybe bad execution.
“A lot of teams concede goals and go on to win games and we just haven’t had enough potency in games.”
Chairman Scott Priestnall was in the stands to witness the performance and Hargreaves was asked whether he had the backing to bring further reinforcements in.
He replied: “I have the support to bring in players. We are looking at bringing in players constantly and that will continue in the next couple of days.
“I hope there will be an announcement before Saturday. The players are doing everything in their powers but the squad is a bit depleted so we are definitely looking to add for the weekend.”
Winger Will Dawes, signed for an undisclosed five-figure fee from Stratford Town, was handed his debut against Dorking and played 53 minutes before being replaced by Charlie Wakefield. The other player brought in for an undisclosed fee, striker Jake Scrimshaw, was unable to add to the 61 minutes he’s been given in four substitute appearances to date having been left on the bench at Dorking.
The final whistle was met by a mixed reception from the travelling supporters with both applause and angry shouts directed at the players, and Hargreaves admitted he understood the frustration.
He said: “I understand we haven’t got the results better than anyone, but the players will not stop giving everything.
“The fans can see the effort, I can understand they are not happy, it’s quite obvious but neither am I. I’m having to work with some players that this is their first outing in the National League, so we’re having to work hard with them all the time to get them better. That’s what we are working with.”
Hargreaves said both Chiori Johnson and Lawson D’Ath were withdrawn as precautions on the artificial surface in Surrey. Johnson was replaced by Alex Fisher after 75 minutes with Sam Perry coming on for D’Ath with nine minutes remaining.
The boss said: “But, I did have to shuffle it (with Chiori Johnson going off) and obviously Lawson (D’Ath) was struggling, Chiori was struggling.
“It’s a small group which is giving absolutely everything and we have to patch them up because we have another massive game coming up (against Solihull Moors at home on Saturday).”
Of D’Ath, he added: “I told him to tell me if he was really struggling on the artificial surface and that’s what he did. That’s what he has to do because I don’t want to lose him for six or eight weeks.
The boss said there was no major concerns about goalkeeper Grant Smith, who pulled off a number of outstanding stops to keep Yeovil in the game on Tuesday night, despite him requiring some lengthy treatment. Hargreaves said the keeper was suffering with a thigh issue but insisted he had “no concerns” about it.