Whitby Town boss Nathan Haslam hopes his team can learn lessons from Celtic loss

Celtic defeated Town by the solitary goal from the penalty spot, leaving the Seasiders two points from safety after 13 Pitching In Northern Premier League Premier Division matches.

But while this result was not what Haslam wanted, his message was to "learn and be better" ahead of 10 days without a league fixture for the Blues.

"It was a poor performance and obviously not the result we were looking for," he said when analysing his side's weekend performance against Celtic.

"I don't want to say it was men against boys but Stalybridge used their experience against our inexperience, and we struggled to deal with their direct approach and aggression.

"It was a bright start from us on the front foot which is what we want.

"Judging from that start you think that we're on it and we're going to put in a good performance.

"You've just got to give credit to Stalybridge but it's a massive learning curve for our young lads who aren't used to that type of game.

"They need to learn and be better moving forwards."

The Seasiders were on the wrong end of a penalty decision that ultimately prevented them from claiming anything from the match, as Raul Correia converted from 12 yards.

A big part of Town's recent upturn in form has been down to some fast-flowing football, but the referee's approach to Saturday's match didn't allow for this type of play, something that Haslam feels played into Stalybridge's hands.

"There were never ten bookings in that game," insisted Haslam. "The game was very stop-start and that didn't help us, it helped Stalybridge.

"It wasn't a rough game.

"Everything was going against us, and for us to an extent but there we no bad fouls in the game.

"Their forward, Correia, gave us a rough afternoon but it was naïve from us as they didn't have any real quality and we didn't have any real quality and, in the end, we've come away with a 1-0 defeat."