Magpies boss Andy Preece urges players to be brave as they look to end poor run of results
Chorley boss Andy Preece has urged his players to be brave and fight their way out of their current rut.
The Magpies’ winless run extended to seven games in all competitions – and six in the National League North – on Saturday as they were beaten 2-1 at Peterborough Sports.
Lady luck appears to have deserted Preece’s men somewhat, although the manager admitted his men are shooting themselves in the foot.
The usually dependable Adam Henley had an afternoon he will want to forget, culminating in an unfortunate red card five minutes before the interval
The former Blackburn Rovers ace was at fault for Boro’s opening goal in the sixth minute and although Tom Carr equalised 22 minutes later, Henley was then red carded for handball despite the ball appearing to hit his leg before deflecting onto his arm.
Goalkeeper Matty Urwin saved the resulting penalty but the hosts eventually made their numerical advantage count when they scored their second in the second half.
It was the second successive game that the Magpies have been reduced to 10 men following Adam Blakeman’s sending off in the 2-0 loss to Merthyr Town the previous week.
The Magpies continued to battle but ultimately succumbed to their fourth defeat in six league games.
"It’s another game where we could, maybe should, but didn’t get something out of the game,” Preece told ChorleyFC TV.
"Unfortunately, that is the run we are on at the moment, everything which could go wrong is going wrong, but we have got to come through that.
"We are not going to make excuses – we have got to dig deep and find that character to get out of it.”
On the red card, Preece added: “Henners has blocked it with his leg and he's falling over and put his hand down. The ball has rolled off his leg onto his arm. To be honest, I don’t know what the ruling is on that.”
The Magpies have an opportunity to end their poor run this evening when they host Alfreton Town at Victory Park, before Saturday’s trip to Radcliffe.
“Alfreton are a strong, organised team,” said Preece. “But it doesn’t matter who we are playing – it’s about us and what we do.
"We just got to concentrate on ourselves, be brave, stick together and we will get through this.”