Town didn't deserve a win

Town failed to learn their lessons from losing to Blyth last season as they lost 1-0 at home to Staines Town in the first round of the competition.

Putting it simply – Town were poor, lethargic and underestimated their opposition. Bad luck didn't come into it as we didn't deserve to get anything from the game.

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We had a strong enough side and enough senior players to win the game comfortably, but failed to take control of possession and rarely threatened their keeper.

Credit must go to Simpson for picking his strongest available eleven and being honest about his side's performance.

Saturday also showed that we are still lacking in strength of depth at the back, especially with no quality cover for Holden at right back. I don't want to be over critical of our youngsters, such as Harry Hooman, but he has got a lot to learn from games like Saturday.

Fears also grow about Kris Bright who is showing no kind of form and could go down as Simpson's worst ever signing.

After a performance like this, it is very difficult to find any positives, but here goes: It was great to see Chris Neal back in goal and he had a decent game for what little he had to do. Now that Phillips has gone, Neal has a great chance to prove himself as number one, just as long as he stays injury free.

So Town's cup dreams are over in a flash once again and it's time to focus on the priority — which is the league.

Town need to rediscover the sort of form they showed against Notts County and get back to winning ways against Torquay on Saturday.