BRYAN HUGHES: We need to show the heart to win games

We still sit proudly at the top of the table, you can’t take away what the lads achieved before the FA Cup game.

The cup exit is frustrating though because it is nice to have a run in competitions like that, they are a good distraction for the lads.

I can’t precisely put my finger on what went wrong because it was a mixture of things.

We didn’t start well and then we just went through the motions.

There were errors for both goals, and overall it just wasn’t good enough, especially as we pride ourselves on clean-sheets.

We know that we can play a lot better than that. In games like that you expect the lads to go out there and play with freedom.

They may have done that, but there was no desire, no fight, courage or heart.

It took our players about 80 minutes before it looked like the hurt kicked in.

Kieran McCaffrey and Joe Lamplough both went in with full-blooded tackles after that, possibly because they felt a bit embarrased, and they both got hurt.

Thankfully that game is gone now and we turn to the league action on Saturday, which is our priority.

The thing is we’ll be in for another battle on Saturday at Prescot Cables.

Being a Scouser I know what Prescot will bring and what they are capable of.

They will work hard and they will get among us, but again we’ll be favourites to win the game.

If we are to achieve anything in this division this season then we have to go to places like Prescot and pick up the points.

It is about going to these places and winning ugly, which is something we’ve shown that we are capable of this season.

If you look at the New Mills game, we got stuck in, gritted our teeth, put the balls into the box and won the game.

We slipped away from that at Consett on Saturday, but it is about re-discovering that mindset and progressing as a team.