AFC Sudbury boss Mark Morsley is not overly concerned about Yellows' run of five straight defeats ahead of Basildon United trip

While there are no alarm bells ringing at this early stage, AFC Sudbury manager Mark Morsley is keen to see his side begin ‘the recovery of their season’ at Basildon United on Saturday (3pm).

After losing 3-0 at home to Hullbridge Sports on Saturday and being knocked out of the Suffolk Premier Cup by lower-league Hadleigh United on Tuesday , the Yellows will head to Gardiners Close on a run of five straight defeats in all competitions.

The goals against column during that sequence is of particular concern, with AFC’s net having been hit on 13 occasions.

But while there is no sense of panic within the ranks, Morsley is eager for his charges to get themselves back on track as soon as possible.

“We’ve won one and lost two in the league, but the key point is that we are only three games into the season,” he said.

“Look at Basildon – they’d lost both of their league games and then they go and thrash Great Wakering Rovers 6-0; things can change as quickly as that.

“There are no alarm bells right now, far from it.

The group is positive but clearly we need to address things defensively – and that starts right at the front end of the pitch.

“When you get to Step 4, that is when proper semi-professional football starts. The planning is better, there is more video footage and there are some very good managers and players.

“They’ll all know how we like to keep the ball, especially on the 3G at home, so we have to find ways of overcoming that.

“If we had hit this barrier in March then there would be reason to worry, but it’s still very early and there are plenty of points to play for.

“The recovery of our season will start with getting zeros against us. If we can come back from Basildon, on a potentially tricky pitch, having not conceded then I will be delighted.”

While the midweek clash with Thurlow Nunn League outfit Hadleigh went against them in a penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw, Morsley was largely pleased with how his team acquitted themselves at The Millfield.

“Overall I was proud of the players,” he added. “We’ve been on a bad run of defeats and that is bound to have an impact.

“We were without five players because of injury but it was important to be competitive, which we were.

“The feeling in the group was we had done enough to win the game, and I was really pleased with the reaction to falling behind.

“We showed some real bite and it says a lot about our young players that they wanted to put it right.

“Credit to Hadleigh because they stuck to their task well. With the greatest of respect to them we’ll be coming up against stronger sides in our league, so the way we played and the attitude we showed will help us going forward.”

Morsley is confident summer signing Marley Andrews will be fit for the clash at Basildon, but it will come too soon for Reece Harris (hamstring).

Meanwhile, the home derby with Bury Town will be on Wednesday, October 21, with the Blues set to be in Emirates FA Cup action next week.

READ MORE: Hadleigh boss hails his side's display to knock AFC Sudbury out