Faal makes mark – but Worthing boss wants to see best of his team earlier in games

They’re coming alive when behind – and it’s bringing rewards – but the manager wants them to be at their best for longer periods and to strike first, rather than have to chase goals in latter stages of matches.

He was speaking after a 3-2 FA Cup second qualifying round win at home to Southern League Havant & Waterlooville in which they trailed 1-0 for half the game and were still 2-1 down after 84 minutes. See the match in Kyle Hemsley’s pictures here.

Goals by Jack Spong, Tommy Willard and new striker Mo Faal saved the day and the Rebels have another home tie in Saturday week’s third qualifying round against Dartford who, like Havant, were relegated from National South last season.

Agutter said of the win: “We had a lot of the ball as Havant dropped off but we lacked a bit of intensity and were quite sloppy and casual. We didn’t move it with enough purpose.

"We went one down to a counter-attack and our reaction when we lost the ball wasn’t aggressive enough.

"We changed shape three times in the game and tried to pose different questions. We went behind again but found enough to win it.

"When we are at it and playing with tempo and purpose, we are pushing our game on opponents. And scoring a lot of late goals is a good habit. But we shouldn’t always need to be behind before we’re at our best.”

Agutter is delighted to land Faal from Crawley Town. He’d been interested in the forward before his move to the Broadfield Stadium and moved fast when he heard he could become available.

With Temi Babalola also having made an instant impression, Agutter’s striking options – an area he’d expressed concern about – suddenly look much stronger.

But as Worthing return to league action with a visit to struggling Weymouth on Saturday, injury worries are mounting.

Defenders Joel Colbran and Cam Tutt are still not back and the manager said Sam Beard, Willard and Sam Packham were all doubts for the weekend.

He again paid tribute to the fans for staying behind the team in the Cup win. “They were amazing. Frustration could have crept in when we were behind but there was none.”