Rob Smith: Telford are not good enough
Furious AFC Telford boss Rob Smith has branded most of his players as 'not good enough' after the Bucks' FA Cup defeat at Kettering Town.
Telford had arrived at Latimer Park hoping to kick-start their faltering league form with a cup win over lower-league opposition.
Instead they fell to a 2-1 upset defeat, despite taking a first-half lead, and Smith said: "We just capitulated - same old, same old.
"There was no heart, no desire, no real passion, and zero quality. It was as poor as it can get in the second-half.
"The game went how we thought it would. It was always going to be a scrap and a battle. We said not to give them anything in the first 20 minutes.
"But, towards the end of the first-half, I could see them getting back into it. We were lucky. Only a good save from James Montgomery and an effort off the post stopped them scoring.
"We have gone over it at half-time and warned them but I think there is a lack of ability in there, a lack of desire in there, a lack of everything in there.
"We are not turning a corner. That dressing room is just not good enough and it hasn't got enough heart in it. I look at the players in their faces and they don't care enough.
"They keep telling me they are good enough to be in this team, but I have just told them they are absolutely kidding themselves if they think they are good enough for National League North football.
"Until they go somewhere else we are going to keep losing games of football because we are not good enough."
"The goals we conceded are beyond belief, as are the chances we missed. For the supporters, I know it must be absolutely heart-breaking. Believe me, it is for me as well.
"If I had my way the majority of that dressing room would be gone but I haven't got my way ,because a lot of them think they are too good to go anywhere else."
Smith added that he has circulated a lot of players' names to other clubs in a bid to trim and re-jig the squad.
But he added: "The bottom line is that nobody wants them and that is in two leagues below. Doesn't that tell you everything you need to know."
Telford's woes were compounded by injuries to winger Izak Reid and striker Connor McCarthy.
Both had to leave the field early and Smith said: "Connor had a back injury and was struggling badly while Izak has got a suspected broken ankle."
It was later confirmed by the club that Reid had sufferd a fractured ankle.
