Loxwood 'can't sit back and look how well they've done' after securing survival

Saturday's 1-1 home draw with Crawley Down Gatwick confirmed the Plaistow Road-outfit's place in the division for the 2019/20 season but they were quickly brought back down to earth on Tuesday evening.

Loxwood were thumped 5-0 at near-neighbours Broadbridge Heath in a game that saw Magpies keeper Liam Matthews sent-off.

Speaking after the Crawley Down game, Walsh praised the Magpies' squad but revealed that the club cannot dwell on their survival success for too long.

The Loxwood boss said: "We emphasised how important it is for this club to be in this division because it needs to be in this division.

"It is a great achievement from the players and the staff but we can't sit on that and say it was great job.

"We've got a massive season next year. We want a good pre-season and a good start to the season. That's the aim.

"In football you can't sit back and look how well you've done all the time. You've got to keep going otherwise you get caught up in it sometimes.

"I'm really pleased but we're looking forward to next season."

SEE ALSO Broadbridge Heath hammer Loxwood in final home game | Loxwood's draw to confirm survival 'was a nice way to kick-off the bank holiday weekend' | Loxwood planning 'vast improvements' to avoid relegation battle next seasonThe Magpies' final match of the 2018/19 season sees them host 14th-placed East Preston.

The fixture will be a symbolic one for Walsh. The first game in his tenure at Loxwood was at EP back on November 3.

But their was no fairy-tale ending to Walsh's opening match in charge as East Preston ran out comfortable 4-1 winners.

Walsh wants to show Saturday's opponents 'how far they've come' since then and has demanded 'a big reaction' from his team after the Broadbridge Heath drubbing.

Speaking after the Heath defeat, he added: "My first game in charge was East Preston away and I don't think we did ourselves justice.

"I want to try and put out a strong side against them and show how far we've come on since that game.

"They've picked up a couple of good results recently and they're a good, young side with some good players there.

"I think there's still something to play for. I still want to finish as high as we possibly can.

"Little Common are a couple of points ahead of us so if we win that game and they lose, we can finish above them.

"Tuesday evening wasn't good enough. Circumstances weren't great but I'm looking for a big reaction against East Preston."