Worthing boss: We need to bounce back fast - and we can

They suffered a surprise 4-2 defeat at Margate on Tuesday night – never really recovering from going 2-0 down inside 22 minutes.

It followed a comfortable 3-0 win at Brightlingsea Regent on Saturday and Hinshelwood admitted he needed to look at the way he set up the team at Margate.

But he has faith in his players to put the defeat behind them rapidly, as they have done with losses earlier in the season.

Worthing remain seven points clear of Folkestone at the top of the table, having played a game more.

They don’t play in the league again until Monday, December 27, when they go to Bognor.

This Saturday they host Lewes in the third round of the Sussex Senior Cup, with fans hoping for something like a repeat of the 5-4 win they enjoyed when the Rooks visited in the league earlier in the season.

Meanwhile striker Ollie Pearce heads into the festive period with 20 goals already to his name for the campaign.

Hinshelwood said: “The 4-2 scoreline at Margate flattered us. We conceded two from set-pieces and two from counter attacks. Maybe I got the tactics wrong – I’ve got to set us up better for certain games.

“There have been a couple of games earlier in the season where we’ve gone two down and recovered to win but that’s not always going to happen. If we’d got one before half-time, or if Reece Meekums had scored when it was 3-1 with 25 minutes to go, we might have nicked something.

“Now we have to show – again – that we can put results like this behind us quickly. We’ve shown before that we can do that. We are always willing to try to improve.”

Hinshelwood praised the team’s performance at Brightlingsea, where Pearce scored two – as he did at Margate – and Callum Kealey got his first goal since his return to the club.

“Ollie’s goal tally is unbelievable,” he said. “He’s showing a great level of maturity. There’s more to his game than his goals. He’s leading the line.”

Worthing should have Luca Cocoorrachio and Cam Tutt back to face Lewes, while Mo Diallo, Dean Cox and Jasper Pattenden could all be fit for the Bognor game.