‘Not enough mental strength’ – Worthing FC boss frustrated at Jekyll & Hyde team

It’s been another hot-and-cold week for the Rebels, who came from a goal down to beat Chippenham 3-1 at Woodside Road on Saturday but let in four goals in 45 minutes to lose 4-0 at Weston-super-Mare on Tuesday night.

Ollie Pearce was Saturday’s second-half hat-trick but if that was a golden 45 minutes for Worthing, the final 45 at Weston was grim as their bright first-half display was forgotten in a heavy loss.

Hinshelwood said displays like the one that cost them at Weston were becoming too common – saying it was a carbon copy of the defeat at Hampton.

Despite their up-and-down form, Worthing are still in the National South play-off zone, in seventh spot.

"It’s becoming a common theme and I feel for the supporters who are spending a lot of time and money following us to places like Weston on a Tuesday night,” he said.

"There are games where we are easily the better team, don’t take our chances and heads seem to drop and we get beaten. It shows a weak mindset.

"Too many players are losing confidence when things don’t go our way. We are showing at times – like the second half against Chippenham – just how good we can be but we can’t seem to do it for 90 minutes.

"I think we have better players than last season but maybe as a group they’re not gelling so well.

"As a management team we’re seeing all the right things in training but are then not knowing what we’ll see when a game starts. It’s a big frustration. There’’s not enough mental strength in the squad.”

With half a dozen players injured or unavailable, Worthing had only three subs at Weston. But for Saturday’s home clash with 17th-placed St Albans City, the boss should be able to welcome back plenty of experience – with Kane Wills back and Jake Robinson and Nicky Wheeler both pushing towards full fitness.

Worthing have a rare midweek off next week then host FA Cup heroes Maidstone a week Saturday.