JOHN DEACEY: Our performance at Stalybridge was an embarrassment

I will not hide behind excuses at all, we may be a team in transition but all 11 of my players were poor and the Celtic lads were first to the ball every time.

I have been managing football teams for a long time but I have never seen one of my teams have a game when all 11 had an off-night like this.

I felt sorry for all the dedicated Scarborough Athletic fans who had travelled all that way midweek to watch their team play, the supporters deserve better.

The first couple of goals were very avoidable, the opener was in the air too long and we shold have dealt with it, while the second we just stood off them.

We got back into it with Chris Dawson’s goal before half-time, but their well-worked free-kick early in the second half finished us off.

The fourth goal again should have been dealt with by the defence and the fifth was just a cracking shot.

I will be working hard with the lads at training on Thursday and, as I have plenty of options in the squad, I can make changes for this weekend’s league games at FC United and at home to South Shields on Monday.

FC United, who have also had a tough start, often have good-sized crowds so it will be interesting to see how my players react in that game after a defeat like Tuesday’s. I will learn a lot about the players in this squad from how they perform in this game.

Monday is also another very tough game at home against a very strong South Shields outfit who have started the season well, but I want to focus on the FC United game before that.

We have been handed a boost by the possible return of Luke Lofts from injury for this weekend’s matches.

He is due to be back in training on Thursday and then should be available for selection for the games this weekend.

This is great news as he is a very important player for us.