Market Drayton Town’s players have offered to undertake extra training sessions in an effort to end the team’s dismal run of results.

“They all felt really badly about Saturday’s result and desperately want to get things right,” said manager Neil Woolliscroft yesterday. “They volunteered to take on extra training sessions to work on improving our results.”

Fifteen minutes of madness just after the interval sent Town spiralling to this latest defeat after they had dominated a dangerous looking New Mills outfit for much of the first half.

“Our mood was really upbeat in the dressing room at half time,” said Woolliscroft. “We were trailing to what we considered to be a freak penalty but were confident that, overall, we had them on the run.

“We’d had two clear penalty shouts of our own turned down and were stretching their defence in all manner of ways.

“We felt a win was very much ours for the taking. But they came out of the blocks far better after the break – and we helped them with some schoolboy errors.”

Despite their defeat, Drayton’s boss is backing his squad to turn things around.

Hammered 8-3 by a very strong Port Vale outfit midweek in the Staffordshire Senior Cup, Drayton looked to have regained their confidence as they set about New Mill of the Evo-Stick League South.

Their penalty from Ashley Stott on 25 minutes was very much against the run of play and hotly disputed, Drayton claiming Andy Hartlebury’s hand had been hit by a hard low cross on edge of the box, rather than the reverse.

They were also desperately unlucky when Shaun Humphreys was denied what looked a clearer spot kick case. Martyn Davies and Humphreys also shot wide inside the six yard box and Mills keeper James Coates saved brilliantly at full stretch to deny Harry Clayton on the stroke of half time.

But they had no answers as New Mills, suddenly finding a yard or more of extra pace, launched their blitzkrieg after the break. Anthony Field got a smart second on 48 minutes, Stott raced through to toe-end their third under luckless advancing keeper Damian Stevens and then a busy Leon Grandison made it four.

Drayton made a swaith of changes and battled hard to get something back and Clayton thoroughly deserved his 83rd minute consolation header.

But Town desperately need a result on Wednesday when they visit Carlton Town.

By TERRY MORRIS