Grant Laments Lack of Consistency

Valley boss Grant Joshua did not hold back following a disappointing Boxing Day home defeat to Mickleover, admitting his side’s inconsistency and lack of response proved costly.

The 0-3 defeat to Mickleover means it is just one win from the last eight outings for Joshua's men in the Northern Premier League Midlands.

Despite the poor run, there has been some positive performances in recent games but Joshua was not happy with what he saw against Mickleover: "For the first 15 minutes we looked like a confident team who were going to go on and win the game if we scored first.

"For the next 75 minutes, we looked like a group of individuals who had just been put together for a game of football."

Joshua highlighted the stark contrast in performance levels as a growing frustration. "There can’t be that much disparity in performances, but that’s what we’re getting,” he added. "We’re like a bag of Revels — each week we don’t know what we’re going to get, individually or collectively.”

Once Mickleover took the lead, Joshua felt his side failed to respond in the way required: "Yet again, we haven’t reacted well to going behind," he said. "I was disappointed with our body language, especially from my more experienced players.

£At that moment, I’m looking for leaders to stand up, and unfortunately the reaction was non-existent. From there, the pattern of the game was set and it became harder to get out of that mindset as the game went on."

The Rugby boss once again pointed to missed opportunities at both ends of the pitch. “There’s no real excuse not to score when we’re on top from the first minute,” Joshua explained. "We’ve had five, six, seven opportunities in the opening 15 minutes and we don’t take them, then we concede at the other end almost instantly.

"That’s the story of the season. In both boxes we are lacking confidence and when those key moments come, we’re making the wrong decisions."

With the season entering a crucial period, Joshua stressed the need for a change in mentality. "There’s no doubt we’re in a hole and our form is really poor," he said. "It’s time to batten down the hatches, become hard to play against and be prepared to sacrifice a bit and win ugly.

"Otherwise, we could be in for a really difficult final 10 games and nobody wants that after the positive feeling around the club since pre-season."

Joshua was clear that effort and attitude must improve: "We don’t have a god-given right to turn up and win games, and at the moment we’re not working hard enough on the pitch to change our fortunes," he added. "We need to fight more, win more duels, be selfless and outwork teams. Those things on their own don’t win you games, but they are the basic principles of any team that wants to give itself a chance.”

Looking ahead to New Year’s Day, Joshua issued a firm warning. “We head to Shepshed on New Year’s Day and if our body language and attitude is the same, Shepshed is an unforgiving place,” he said. “You have to get yourself up for that game because nothing else will. Preparation has to be right — I’m not sure it was for this one.

" I need to see a reaction, and the supporters deserve to see a reaction too, because quite a few failed the eye test on Boxing Day."