You're not going to do anything in non-league football if you can’t deal with that – Lewes FC reflect on Aveley defeat

Before Saturday Lewes were on a fantastic run having been unbeaten in their past five games. Coming up against high flying Aveley was a test, though, with the home side coming away with a 2-0 win.

Russell expressed his disappointment in the result: “They are very good at what they do. They put it on you. Long throws, loads of balls coming into the box. Whoever dealt with the other better would win the game.

“We got them in at half-time and tried to shake it up a little bit and in the second half I thought we played a lot better.

“I’m more disappointed that we didn’t deal with the long straight balls. You're not going to do anything in non-league football if you can’t deal with that. So in that sense we were disappointed, for sure.”

Lewes have announced that they will be staging their games this weekend in support of the ‘Football v Homophobia’ campaign which aims to kick homophobia out of football.

Russell was full of praise for Lewes for getting involved in the cause. “They will always fight the fight that maybe some won’t. They are really unapologetic about that and that’s the way they are as a football club and that is even more why we as manager, team and players love to represent them. It is great what the club are doing.” he said.

On the pitch, the Rooks take on Billericay Town tomorrow and Russell believes it is going to be a hard-fought game.

“They are a difficult side. We are unbeaten at home all season, but I’ve said to the boys that this will be our biggest test,” he said.

"They have exceptional players who I know really well. I know for a fact that it is going to be a really hard game. I have no doubt about it. We are going to have to play at our very best to get something out of this game.”

Lewes go into the game five points off a play-off spot.

On Sunday the Dripping Pan is the venue for the Rooks Women at home to Cardiff City in the fifth round of the FA Cup – with more events dedicated to the homophobia campaign planned too.