Worthing prepare for Kidderminster, Southend and Sutton tests – and aim to put cup exit in past
Adam Hinshelwood admitted Worthing's FA Cup exit was a big blow – and challenged his players to put it behind them in a huge week of National League action.
The Rebels missed a prized spot in the first round of the Cup when they conceded three goals in a ten-minute second half spell in their fourth qualifying round loss away to league rivals Wealdstone.
It continues what the manager calls his FA Cup ‘curse’ and leaves them to focus on a league campaign which has seen them rise to fifth.
The Rebels go to Kidderminster, who are 11th, on Saturday then host third-placed Southend on Tuesday and Chris Agutter’s Sutton (13th) on Saturday week.
Hinshelwood spoke of his disappointment at the cup loss: “It wasn’t through the want of trying. We could have been 3-0 up inside ten minutes but didn’t take those chances. They had similar in the second half and did take them.
“Their first was an unbelievable finish but we should have defended it better, then it was two gifts, which was uncharacteristic for us.
“Take out the ten minutes when they scored their goals, it was actually a good away performance from us. But our ruthless side wasn’t there in the first half and we must learn fast from what happened in the second.”
Hinshelwood took responsibility for the result, saying: “I decided to change the formation and shape and unfortunately it didn’t have the desired effect.”
He said the goals conceded were down to mistakes, such as not judging the flight of the ball or dealing with conditions.
“They’re not excuses but just the way it was,” he said. “It’s disappointing we were lacking our usual grit and determination to win our individual duels and reclaim the ball quickly once losing it.
“We weren’t able to react well to falling behind and ultimately that’s ended with us exiting the competition. We don’t want to make excuses – it just wasn’t good enough.”
Hinshelwood added a ‘massive apology’ to fans and said: “That was a proper National League away following and it’s so frustrating that we couldn’t reward our supporters.
“We will return home, lick our wounds and make sure a performance like this doesn’t happen again.
“We all desperately wanted a proper run in this competition but for various reasons it wasn’t to be and we just want supporters to know how grateful we are for their passion and commitment.
“Now we have a massive week ahead of us in the league and we will be ready for that challenge.”