'˜Disgusted' Gosport boss eyes late play-off push

Pike’s Borough side have seen off-field problems derail their hopes of a top-five finish, with five successive defeats seeing them slip to 10th in the table as they prepare for tomorrow’s visit of Bishop’s Stortford (3pm).

For Gosport’s manager it is an unwanted first in his career.

But following a rallying phone call from midfielder Adam Wilde, Pike is now refocused on the task at hand, having lost his mojo in recent weeks.

He said: ‘We have now lost five games on the trot which I have never experienced before in my life.

‘It is very difficult.

‘I accused the players of giving up and that did get the response I was looking for.

‘But having said that, the reason I am annoyed with myself is maybe the last two or three games I personally haven’t wanted to be there.

‘And how does that to transmit to the players? Not at all well.

‘I had Adam Wilde get hold of me at the weekend and say we want our old Alex Pike back, he is absolutely right.

‘I lost my mojo but he has now fired me up.

‘I am disgusted at myself and I am disgusted at the results we have had from our last five games.

‘Only we can get ourselves out of it.

‘We have to fight – if we win our last five games anything can happen.

‘And we are more than capable of winning five games.’

Whether prolific striker Justin Bennett leads the line for Borough remains to be seen after he announced his intention to leave in the summer.

Pike refused to comment on the situation, having not had the chance to meet with the disillusioned hitman before last night’s training session.

Gosport’s boss did have plenty to say on the players who have departed Borough in recent times, though.

‘People say we have lost a lot of players but I would argue that probably we haven’t,’ said Pike.

‘The biggest loss was our goalkeeper Nathan Ashmore and that has had a big impact on and off the field.

‘The other players haven’t.

‘Andy Robinson missed a large part of the season and we had to pay him while he has been out injured.

‘George Barker had a very indifferent start for us and wasn’t the impact player that I expected him to be.

‘And Lee Wort had been out on loan and backwards and forwards.

‘Those three players shouldn’t have an effect on the players we have now.

‘I will be the first to admit that Nathan was different class and that has had an impact.

‘But we have to get over that.

‘We have to start fighting, we have to get back to winning football games.

‘I know these players, if I can stoke the fires back in their bellies they are more than capable of winning the next five games – it is as simple as that.

‘It might take us into the play-offs, it might not.’

Borough midfielder Wilde (groin) is a doubt but promising 19-year-old George Legg continues in goal having seen his loan stay from Reading extended until the end of the season.