Bognor Regis Town boss plots his 'Rocks rebuild'

Blake saw Bognor defeated 2-0 at home by play-off chasing Cheshunt on Tuesday – his first defeat as gaffer since replacing Jack Pearce.

A young Rocks side, missing key defender Craig Robson, battled well but ultimately lost out to a powerful Ambers side desperate to maintain their push for promotion.

For Blake, it’s a case of running the rule over his charges through the next three games to see where improvement will come through recruitment.

He said: “It’s transformation at the minute and we have to generate a team that will be competitive in this league – it won’t happened over night and we have to be patient, it will take time to get the right players in the right mix, the right blend.

Rocks v Cheshunt in pictures.

“But I firmly believe we can get there. There has to be changes in the summer we all know that – we need to create a winning mentality and the sooner we can do that the better.”

Despite the reverse, in front of a healthy crowd of 508, Blake was far from disheartened at the display.

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He added: “We were excellent in the first half playing against a good team; we passed it well and got in to great areas but, similar to last time against East Thurrock, our decision-making was poor in the final third -- and we have to brush up on that.

“We have to get better and we will do next season. That’s not to be disrespectful of the players that we have at the club at the minute.

“We struggled with the intensity a little bit, when they got in our faces and we must learn to cope with that. Teams will put you under that kind of pressure and how you cope with that is vital to how well you do.”

Blake drafted in youngsters Tom Holland and Flynn Barnes for his bench while Danny Howick got a starting place in the middle of the backline because of an injury to Robson.

Impressive Howick drew praise from Blake, who said: “Danny was exceptional and when you think he has played only a handful of times at this level you can see he is only going to get better. He is so composed and I’ve told him he has a bright future.”

Robson may well be back at Merstham on Saturday.