Agutter takes blame for Worthing’s 5-0 loss – but says: It won’t define us

The Rebels were only 1-0 down at the break in Monday’s clash and right in the game – only to concede three in just under ten minutes early in the second half.

They let in another and had Alfie Young sent off late on to make it a miserable end to a long weekend on the road which had begun with Jack Spong’s late goal securing a 1-1 draw at Hemel Hempstead.

Agutter said a tweak to the formation he made at half-time at Truro was behind the big defeat.

"We changed the positions of the centre-halves at the break and it left us open to the counter-attack,” he said.

"We chased the scoreline and suffered ten minutes of madness – having played well in the first half and dominated possession and territory.

"It’s hard to feel any negativity towards the players for the result, especially as they’ve shown mentality and character in a testing period for us.

"We can’t be too frustrated at taking five points from four away games, but that was the first time I’ve ever lost by more than three goals as a manager and I don’t want it to happen again.

"Our fans were amazing at Truro and they will drive us on.”

Agutter felt the late leveller at Hemel was the least they deserved after another game they might have won. “At either Hemel or Truro, if we score first we go on to get three four.”

The manager said the weekend’s games had shown the need for more in the frontline.

They are still in the market for another striker and Agutter said: “We lost Brad Dolaghan and Greg Luer in the summer and we’re still light. The players we’ve brought in in that department have to start delivering.

"What we’re not doing is scoring poacher’s goals. All our goals are nice team goals or set-pieces. We need someone to start poking one in from three yards.”

The long run of road trips continues this week – they go to Hampton & Richmond on Saturday and Boreham Wood on Monday.

As things stand, Worthing are due to play their first home game on Saturday week versus Hornchurch.