Sidmouth Town manager Josh Stunell had his misfiring side in for a heart-to-heart last night (Thursday) in a bid to sort out a disappointing start to the new campaign that has seen the Vikings lose three of their first four games.

Sidmouth Town manager Josh Stunell had his misfiring side in for a heart-to-heart last night (Thursday) in a bid to sort out a disappointing start to the new campaign that has seen the Vikings lose three of their first four games.

The latest was a Monday night narrow defeat at University (Exeter) which came hot on the heels of last Saturday’s single goal reversal at home to Alphington.

Stunell pulled no punches about the Monday night performance when he said: “Quite simply we were out-worked and that is a concern. There’s no doubt we have talent in abundance in the squad, but Monday night was a classic case of no matter how much talent you have, if you are not prepared to work and certainly not prepared to match the work rate 0f your opponent then you’ll get nothing out of the contest.”

The Vikings chief continued: “To be fair, the second half saw a dramatic improvement and it was the contribution of young Tyler (Wellman) that changed the course of the game. Tyler was outstanding and will certainly start the game tomorrow (Saturday) against Newton Abbot Spurs.”

Three defeats in four is not yet cause for panic, something Stunell alluded to when he said: “It’s a long season and early defeats don’t mean you are in for a bad campaign. Far from it, indeed it’s better to take the losses early and put right what is wrong.

“That’s why we got the lads in on Thursday, it was almost a case of reminding each player as to his job description within the team and just what we are about as a unit. Am I concerned about three defeats in four? Of course, but I know that we know what’s wrong and it can be put right – indeed it will be put right.”

As for the visit of Newton Abbot Spurs (kick-off at Manstone Lane is 3pm), Stunell says: “It may be that we make some changes. We cannot afford another half like the first 45 minutes on Monday night and I am very confident we won’t see that on Saturday.”