Moneyfields boss Carter: We’re good enough to beat leaders Thatcham

Moneyfields were left nursing a huge New Year’s Day hangover after slumping to a 3-0 home defeat against fellow strugglers AFC Totton.

Carter was massively disappointed but is backing his side to bounce back from their defeat.

'We were just not sharp enough,' he said.

'It was a combination of three weeks without a game, New Year’s Eve and an early kick off.

'For us it was one of those days.

'We could have been there all night and not scored.

'At 2-0 we missed a penalty which would have got us back into the game.

'If that had gone in then I am convinced we would have got something.

'We dominated a lot of the possession but conceded three very poor goals.

'Two resulted from corners and the other from an uncharacteristic slip by Brett Poate.'

The Moneyfields cause wasn't helped by the absence of Steve Hutchings up front.

The striker - a hat-trick hero against Evesham in Moneys’ previous game on December 7 - cried off in the morning with a sickness bug.

With other forward Ryan Pennery still injured, Carter was forced to throw Rudi Plummer - a recent arrival from Blackfield - up front.

The peripatetic striker – who first played for Moneys in 2015 shortly after Carter had replaced Miles Rutherford as manager - was playing his first game for five or six weeks.

Carter expects to have Hutchings back for the daunting task of trying to cause an upset in Berkshire.

Thatcham have lost just once so far this season in the league - 3-1 at home to Slimbridge on December 14.

They were also losing 2-0 at second-placed Frome last month with the game was abandoned with 15 minutes to go due to concerns about players’ safety in wet conditions.

Moneyfields, however, did hold Thatcham to a 1-1 draw when the teams met at Dover Road back in early August.

Pennery is likely to remain out for a while but Tyler Giddens returns from suspension to give an extra option at the back.

Moneyflelds are fifth bottom - just four points off the relegation area but with six games in hand on basement side Barnstaple Town.

As a result, Carter isn't too worried about the situation.

'There is only one team going down in our league so I don't see relegation as an issue,' he said.

'We will need to be a lot better against Thatcham, but we have a squad capable of beating them.

'For us, it is the start of 15 games in nine weeks.'