Cowan tells Brackley players to 'get their act together' ahead of Peterborough Sports clash

Two penalties proved to be the Saints' downfall as they were beaten 2-0 at home by Chorley in Vanarama National League North.

It's been a tough start to the season for Cowan's side as they have been handed some difficult fixtures and only picked up two wins from seven matches so far.

They are already 12 points behind league leaders Scunthorpe United ahead of Saturday's trip to face Peterborough Sports.

And Cowan said: "It's relentless.

"Going into the game on Tuesday, we suffered with suspension and injuries and some of the lads out on the pitch were walking wounded.

"But, no excuses, we've decided to go with a small squad and that's on me.

"We tried to utilise the squad a bit on Tuesday and all the players in the squad can play.

"I felt like it was the right team and I wouldn't have done anything differently.

"If we'd taken our chances, we'd have won the game.

"Scott Pollock had a chance he'd expect to score but it was a really good performance again from him.

"If he'd put that chance away, we'd certainly draw the game and maybe even go on and win it and get some momentum.

"We've been here before, we were here at the start of last season and I've said to the players maybe there's a little bit of a hangover from last season.

"The players need to get their act together psychologically and pretty sharpish because we're not waiting until Christmas again, that's for sure.

"We've stayed loyal to the players, kept a lot of continuity in there and it's on us.

"It's a crossroads for us to either rise to it or shy away from it - and I know they won't shy away from it.

"This is the time to stick our chests out and I look forward to preparing for Saturday and hopefully getting three points to get back on the road we know we should be on."

Jack Sampson netted penalties in the 53rd minute and 85th minute as Chorley won at Brackley on Tuesday night, claiming revenge for last season's 1-0 play-off semi-final defeat.

"I'm obviously really disappointed with the result," Cowan said.

"I felt we played well for large parts but it just comes down to both boxes again for us.

"We made a couple of mistakes and we didn't take our chances.

"Chorley are particularly strong from set pieces and they didn't give us too many problems from them so we were pleased with that.

"The lads' attitude and application was good but we're just missing a couple of players, which is no excuse.

"Ultimately, you want to win games and it's been a tough start for us. We expect a better return.

"You try to correlate the performance with the result and though the performance has been good again, we felt we deserved a bit more and it's about what happens in both boxes.

"It's tough because in my time here we've got used to beating Chorley but they've managed to come here and get a win, which will have meant a lot to them after us beating them in the semi-finals of the play-offs.

"They will have wanted to make it personal and that's what you need to do to get results - I understand that.

"It's a long season and we've got to conduct ourselves in the right way and take our medicine.

"This is what football's about, it's not always about being really chirpy.

"It's a tough time for us and we need to turn performances into results.

"I thought the performance was good but the results need to be better and we've got to be more clinical.

"We'll look forward to trying to get it right and making sure we rise to the challenge.

"It's not time to shy away, it's time to stick your chest out and go and get what we know we're capable of."