Steelmen look ‘devoid of confidence’ after a heavy home defeat in the FA Cup

The Steelmen were beaten 4-0 by Isthmian League North side Lowestoft Town at Steel Park - their second home loss in the space of a few days after they had been beaten 1-0 by Shepshed Dynamo in the Northern Premier League Midlands.

Lowestoft took the lead on the stroke of half-time and then added three more goals after the break with Jake Reed hitting a hat-trick.

And it all left Corby boss Setchell scratching his head.

“With the performance, I am probably not as unhappy as I was the other night,” he said.

“But the sloppiness in the goals we gave away was absolutely horrendous.

“For whatever reason, we just look like we are devoid of confidence and I don’t know why.

“This time last week, we were all celebrating a good win away (at Boldmere St Michaels).

“We got a little kick in the cans and a poor performance on Wednesday and we have carried it into this one.

“I have said to the players, playing for Corby Town is a double edged sword.

“When it’s good and people get behind you, it’s good. But you have to earn the right for them to get behind you.

“When things aren’t going well, people hide and not wanting the ball and take the easy option by punting it long.

“That’s when you need your characters and your big players to stand up. We didn’t have enough of that today or on Wednesday night.”

The Steelmen face more injury problems with Danny Gordon likely to be out for a number of weeks due to a hamstring problem while Charley Sanders also suffered a groin injury.

Danny Setchell and Joe Butterworth both came off the bench to make their first appearances in a Corby shirt in the FA Cup game after injuries but Matty Slinn remains sidelined.

And Setchell knows his team must now “stick together” as he targets a much-needed boost in confidence when they head to Rugby Town in league action on Tuesday.

“We are two games into the league season, we have won one and lost one,” the Corby manager added.

“Tuesday is a big game for us now. We have lost Danny (Gordon) and probably lost Charley (Sanders) and Slinny (Slinn) is still out.

“We got a minutes into DS (Danny Setchell) and Butts (Butterworth), who I thought tried to control the game.

“That is a problem for a squad like us to have five unfit players.

“But the players are performing below the levels they have set for themselves.

“We had a good chat and there are no panic buttons being hit. We have just got to be better.

“We have got a lot of hard work to do but there’s a lot to work with in there, I believe in the players and when we get a fully fit squad, we will be fine.

“We need to settle down and keep calm. We all need to stick together.

“I am a front foot manager and we go again on Tuesday. We have got to win and I know it’s going to be tough.

“We have put ourselves in a situation where not only do we need a result, we need a performance to get the confidence back.”