AFC Sudbury manager Mark Morsley will be looking for his side, ‘to work harder off the ball’, than they have done in recent games.

The King’s Marsh stadium club, with just one Bostik North win in seven, were beaten 4-0 at Witham on Saturday. Tonight they entertain Hertford Town.

While there is no sign of concern over what was always going to be a transition period for Morsley after he took over from previous manager Jamie Godbold, it doesn’t mean he will accept performances that fall below standard.

“I’ll be expecting a bit of a reaction from my players against Hertford, of course I will,” he said.

“I want us to work harder off the ball. On the ball we look pretty accomplished in possession, but in the last couple of games, without the ball, we haven’t worked hard enough.

“Without the ball, we need to regroup quickly, be harder to break down. It’s something we have not got to grips with yet.”

Morsley is certainly tinkering with his squad since he returned to Sudbury as boss two months ago.

It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster ride so far but he is happy to accept the blame when some things haven’t gone right – as they didn’t at the weekend.

“At Witham on Saturday, I picked quite an attacking formation,” he said.

“It back-fired to be honest and I’ll hold my hands up. Then again it was just a mad 15 minutes in the game that cost us when they got three goals. That left us with way too much to do.

“At Sudbury we have great faciliites, smart, big changing rooms and not all clubs have that and my players have to cope whatever the facilities are, or how heavy the pitch.

“I said to them, this is English non-league football in December. It’s going to be tough. You have to put a shift in. If you don’t fancy it, you won’t win, simple as that.”

Heybridge Swifts entertain National South, Hampton & Richmond in an FA Trophy first round replay tonight.

Jody Brown’s side are enjoying a superb season and a 1-1 draw in London on Saturday continued that theme.

Hampton & Richmond are flying high in National South and victory for the Swifts would be quite some coup.

The only fly in the ointment of these excellent cup runs for Swifts is of course the fact their league games are falling behind.

In fact they have only played 11 Bostik North matches, most clubs in their division have played 20 or more.