ECCLESHILL United manager Lee Elam has admitted his side were well below par in their thumping 4-0 away defeat to Winterton on Wednesday evening.

The defeat means that United have only won one of their previous four fixtures, their worst run of the campaign so far.

They have now lost grip on their first placed spot in the league standings; however, they do have a game in hand on Grimsby Borough, the side who since risen above them.

Elam’s side fell apart after the interval, all four goals being scored in a 24-minute second half period and United’s boss was frustrated with what he saw.

He said: “On my side and the team’s side of it, the performance was not very good.

“Compared to our usual standards, it wasn’t there and we got deservedly punished.

“There was nothing wrong in how we prepared, but I think the application wasn’t there. It’s difficult at the minute as we can’t train because of midweek games and we haven’t been able to work with them properly.

“I won’t blame any individuals on the defeat because we are a team and I think it was a bad performance collectively.

“We’ve conceded seven goals in two games, obviously of which I’m not happy with. But I do feel last night’s goals weren’t through their sheer quality. The first one was us giving possession away, one was a set piece and the other was through us passing it to their striker which allowed him to round the keeper.

“In previous games, we’ve been really hard to beat and have conceded very few goals, but individual errors are costing us at the moment, whether it’s through errors or having a lack of concentration.

“I did say to the players after the game that games do come around like this every so often and that we can’t win every single game, but it’s about dusting ourselves off and going again.”

Elam’s side were involved in an extremely unfortunate incident prior to kick off, being stuck in traffic for 45 minutes on the way to Winterton, giving his side very little time to warm up.

He said: “The preparation before kick-off wasn’t how we’d planned because we were stuck in traffic, and because of that we had to start the game 45 minutes later.

“We were travelling for over three hours in total- I know it’s no excuse but it’s certainly a setback in terms of preparation. We had to an extremely quick warm up and I felt the lads were a little bit flat footed from the get go.”

Eccleshill return to action on Saturday when they host Sherwood Colliery and Elam is hoping his side can get back on the front foot.

He said: "It's going to be a tough fixture against an inform Sherwood side, but we must show our will to get back on form."