Nightmare start - but Eastbourne boss Bloor is putting it in context

A Sports side with a heavily rejigged defence were two down early on – then lost Steven James to a red card.

It was a nightmare start that they’ll hope to put behind them when they go to Billericay tomorrow.

Bloor said: “Last season, I think we had only one change to the defence in the entire campaign. On Saturday, we had three enforced changes, and only one of last season’s back five. That said, there were individual errors, and we analysed those and discussed them in detail at Tuesday’s training.

“We knew Hampton have a powerful side who should be in the top eight this year. But keep it in proportion. What this group of players has done for us over the past 15 months has been momentous, and maybe they were due just that one bad day at the office. We had narrow defeats last season, but I can’t remember one like that.

“For Billericay we will be back to normal. Mitch Dickenson is the best left-sided centre-back in our league, and Jake Elliott is a fantastic prospect. Both will be back on Saturday.

“The league is a lot stronger this season, with some big budgets out there. We must keep things in proportion, and be realistic. Forty points, for safety in the division, is still the primary target. “

Bloor said Billericay, bossed by experience Kevin Watson, would give them a good test but they had trained well this week.