BRADFORD (Park Avenue's) interim assistant manager Lee Fowler blasted Tuesday's "damp squib" of a derby against Farsley Celtic and urged his players to start retaining tactical information ahead of a tough trip to Boston United tomorrow.

He also admitted that Avenue were finding hard to compete financially at present, with potential new signings frequently falling through due to wage demands. He suggested that he would even be seeking feedback and advice from former manager Mark Bower.

Referring to the 3-0 midweek defeat at Farsley, Fowler moaned: "It wasn't much of a derby. There was no atmosphere or tackles flying in.

"It seemed subdued on the pitch and the fans were too, with the league position we're in.

"Farsley deserved to win, even if the result did flatter them, with goals in the 86th and 89th minute. BUT THAT JUST SHOWS THAT THE PLAYERS HAVE TO SWITCH ON FOR THE FULL 90 MINUTES

"Marcus (Law, Avenue's interim manager) and I are working our balls off in training and we were telling the players all week that Farsley were dangerous from set plays, especially their big striker Jimmy Spencer.

"But he bullied our back line all night, Thomas Allan scored from a corner and they got another from a throw-in.

"Boston this weekend are a good team. I know their chief scout and they recruit well. They've got pace up front with Dominic Knowles and Nicky Walker, physical centre halves and quick wide men so we know their strengths and our players have to learn to retain this information, like sponges.

"We need a reaction this weekend. Like Chris Wilder (Sheffield United manager) said the other week, the minimum the fans deserve is for the players to care."

Fowler feels that inexperience is costing his side this season, but admitted that it is proving difficult to add some older, wiser heads.

He said: "Against Telford last weekend (a 3-2 defeat) and Farsley, we showed a lot of youthful naivety. There's a lot of over-zealous, misspent energy, where the players are good at running with the ball but they don't know what to do with it.

"They have to learn what I call the "hot and cold" technique. So they're hot while pressing, but showing cold composure when it comes to that final through ball, cross or shot.

"We're going to build on that and I might start training again, rather than coaching from the sidelines, just to show them what we're after.

"It's a massive transition this season, and we do need more "men" in the side. I'll be giving Mark Bower a call to get some feedback too.

"But it is different to when he was here last season, the wages are a lot different. Boston for example can offer £500 a week and we just can't.

"We're desperate to bring in a striker, a target man, but the ones we're after want £750 or £1,000 a week and you wonder where they think we're going to get that kind of money from."

A big miss over the next couple of weeks will be experienced goalkeeper Rhys Taylor. Fowler said the club had discovered he had a back problem this week, and want him to take time off to recover.

His replacement, 21-year-old Jack Bennett, made a bad error for Farsley's second goal on Tuesday, but Fowler was keen to advise rather than criticise the youngster.

he said: "Rhys had a hip operation in the summer and didn't do much in pre-season so we knew he'd feel the effects at some point.

"He'd been struggling to walk though, so he went to see a chiropractor this week, who found that a disc had popped out in his back. we've given him two weeks off now to try and get himself fit.

"Jack's come in for him and i thought he was great against Gateshead. He made a mistake against Farsley but I thought he dealt with the rest well, even if his kicking was a bit erratic.

"He didn't actually have that much to do against Farsley and the mistake came late on (in the 86th minute when he allowed Jordan Richards' shot to trickle through his legs) so I'll be giving him a ring to tell him to make sure he always keeps himself in the the game.

"It did start raining towards the end so I wonder if that affected his thinking as well. Marcus gave him a rollicking after the game but I felt I had to go the other way."