Devonshire says he understands fans frustration but calls for unity ahead of Daggers' test

Maidenhead United boss Alan Devonshire is keen to draw under line Saturday’s FA Trophy exit to Leamington and the ugly scenes which followed it as he looks to move forward with the fans backing at Dagenham & Redbridge on Saturday.

The Magpies return to league action off the back of a dismal display in their FA Trophy second round clash at National League North strugglers Leamington.

In what must go down as one of - if not the worst display of the campaign so far, the Magpies were comfortably beaten by a Leamington side sitting bottom of their division, having managed just two goals in seven games going into the tie at the Your Coop Community Stadium.

Afterwards there were ugly scenes as Devonshire and some of the players confronted angry fans on the terraces who let the players know in no uncertain terms what they felt of their abject display.

Afterwards, chairman Peter Griffin responded to online criticism insisting he was still loyal to Devonshire and optimistic he and the squad could turn things around.

Devonshire also spoke to club media calling on fans to support the players even if they wanted to ‘’dig him out’ for the team’s poor performances of late. He admitted their confidence was very low and repeated that in an interview with the Advertiser this week. But he hopes everyone can move on in a positive manner, with the focus now on Saturday’s league match at Dagenham & Redbridge.

“Listen, they’ve (the fans) paid their money so they can do what they want,” he said.

“It is what it is. I’m not going to get into it. For me, it’s finished. I don’t want to end up saying things, but I understand their frustration. We’ve just got to get on with it.

“You know how football is. It doesn’t matter what level you’re at; they’re all difficult games and 11 vs 11. We were poor and we’ve got to be better than that.

“I don’t feel any pressure on myself. I try and take the pressure off the players because I don’t want them to feel any pressure. What will be will be.

“At the end of the day, the players are very low at the minute and it’s my job to get them up and ready for Saturday.”

Despite the poor results of late, Devonshire feels the fine margins have gone against his team in certain matches. They created a decent number of chances at Leamington but conceded the only goals of the match to Ewan Williams and Tim Berridge. In their recent league matches, they’ve lost five of the last six games, but all by a single goal.

Devonshire is hoping with hard work and application from the players, and support from the fans, they can turn those results around and get back on a good run. Just over a month ago they were celebrating their sixth straight win in the league.

“It’s fine margins” said the manager, “Very fine margins.

“We’ve got two away games coming up now on Saturday and Tuesday. They’re massive and hopefully we get the right result in both games.

“I think Boreham Wood, even though they were promoted after finishing sixth or seventh in the end. But they had the same difficulty. They were 14th or 15th after so many games. Maybe it is an adjustment. It’s something we’ve got to change and change quickly.

“We’ve got a few injuries which are hurting us and a couple of other things going on with the players. We had it last year when we were missing a few key players for a long period. I think we had one centre half fit for Saturday so there are reasons but I’m making no excuses, it wasn’t good enough on Saturday. But at the end of the day, it’s about the league anyway.

“I’m happy with the squad we’ve got. We have been trying to add to the squad we’ve got but the right players haven’t been available for us and there’s no point just bringing bodies in.”

The Magpies won’t have any new signings in for Saturday’s trip to Victoria Road, but Devonshire does hope to have one or two key players back. The Daggers strugglers in the league is also illustrative of the adjustment teams must make when they come down from the National League. The Magpies go into this game two points and two places above Dagenham.

“Dagenham were hot favourites to go up and to win the league,” said Devonshire. “They’ve been spending loads of money, which is fine but listen, it’s going to be a tough game. We’ll go there and give it our best shot. I don’t really worry about how they are or how they’re feeling, I worry about Maidenhead.

“Fingers crossed we’ll have some players back for that game.”

The Magpies are then back on the road at 18th placed Salisbury on Tuesday evening.