AFC Sudbury boss, Mark Morsley, shouldered some of the blame for his side’s lack-lustre display at Hullbridge Sports yesterday, which ended in a disappointing 2-0 defeat.

The Suffolk side, below-par in the two recent FA Cup ties against lower level Deeping Rangers, once again failed to convince against hosts who were plying their trade at Step Five in the Essex Senior League last season.

"A sizeable amount of the blame today falls on my shoulders," admitted Morsley.

"I made a number of changes after Tuesday (FA Cup replay defeat to Deeping Rangers) because I was very disappointed with that performance.

"I wanted to see a bit of a reaction, and I wanted to see something from the players, obviously with this Tuesday's game (at Bury Town) in mind.

"I think maybe I was unfair to them. I think maybe I created a situation which was just unfair for them, so there's a degree of blame on me.

"However, you have to be honest - we were lucky to get a draw (initial Cup match at Deeping Rangers) and have then lost our next two matches against teams who basically just play a solid, counter-attacking style of football.

"The opposition worked hard and stuck together, so it's a little bit of a shame, I have to say. We are in a bad patch at the moment.

"I think not having Adam Bailey-Dennis and Reece Harris has to have an impact on us. I'm not saying their absence is why we lost today, because it wasn't, but they are both big players for us, with the level they have played at.

"As for today, their (Hullbridge's) first goal is appalling - our defenders are defending wrong, and for the second goal Benno (Liam Bennett) loses the ball, Joe (Whight) doesn't do very well, and their fellow (Timo Monsheju) scores.

"We had probably 80% of possession, but we weren't really knocking on the door. The final ball wasn't there.

"We gave Hullbridge encouragement and something to hang onto, so we've hit a sticky patch. We have to see where we are," added Morsley.

New signing, Rob Harvey, recruited from Braintree Town was introduced as a substitute just before the hour mark.

Morsley said: "It was a difficult game to come into. We haven't had much of a chance to work with him, but it couldn't get any worse putting him on."