DARREN KELLY: Away day loss was a disappointment

The manner of the defeat just showed that while we may have won a few games recently, there are still underlying issues with confidence, among other things.

I have to start by apologising to the fans, especially those who made the journey down and supported the boys superbly, even clapping the team off at the end of the game.

The backing that myself and the players have had in my short time with Scarborough Athletic has been fantastic, hopefully that will continue in the long term and also for our match at home to Morpeth this afternoon.

Morpeth will come to the Flamingo Land Stadium full of confidence after hammering Warrington and seeing our result at Buxton - but it is our job to get out of the traps early and stop them in their tracks.

I have to appeal to the fans to be as patient as possible with me and the club.

My hands are tied to a certain extent in terms of changing things up and bringing fresh faces in due to the number of players at the club brought in and put on contracts by previous managers here.

While we aren’t giving up on this season, I’d like to be judged next season when I have a had chance to put my stamp on things at the club.

The supporters can rest assured, though, performances like that won’t be occuring from next season.

The board have been incredibly supportive of myself and also previous managers in putting together a competitive budget that should see the club competing.

This football club needs to be challenging and that will be my goal going forward.

I know what needs to be done to bring success to the club in the long term and I will be striving and working very hard to do just that.

We will be checking on the fitness of Chris Dawson and Wayne Brooksby for today’s game, while Harry Coates will come back into the starting 11, which is a huge boost for us.

I’d like to finish by wishing all readers and fans a Merry Christmas, hope to see you Boxing Day.