NEEDHAM Market manager Danny Laws admits he is as perplexed as anyone after his side stretched their winless run at home in the league to almost eight months.

The Marketmen have not won at home in the Ryman League Division One North this season, drawing three times and losing on four occasions following Saturday’s 3-1 defeat to Witham Town.

March 24 was the last time Needham won at home in the division, and Laws concedes questions over their home form need answering – although he is struggling to find any solutions to their Bloomfields blues.

“It’s a good question, and a fair question, and my honest answer is I don’t know,” he said.

“It’s a monkey on our backs and we need to get rid of it quickly. We expected it would go (on Saturday).

“We’ve played three games away from home on the bounce plus the Ryman Shield against Bury from a higher level and we’ve been fantastic.

“We’ve shipped hardly any goals and we’ve done well over those four away games.

“Then we come here, and whether it’s the comfort zone of being at home and we relax more than we should, I don’t know.

“We didn’t have this trouble last season and we didn’t have this trouble in previous seasons.

“But we’re at home in the league again next Saturday and we have just got to get it right and start winning at home.”

Strikes from Rob Whitnell, Emeka Onwubiko and Shamir Mullins condemned Needham to their ninth defeat in the league this term, and Laws maintains his players must improve.

“Witham were probably, man for man, better than us. We played nowhere near our potential,” he added.

“The message to the players is look at your performance – have you played as well as your potential?

“They didn’t play to the level we expect them to.

“We’re obviously really disappointed. It’s a match that, as a club and as a group of players, we should win – especially being at home.”