The recently-appointed management duo at Brantham Athletic are getting a good idea of what will be needed to improve the Blue Imps’ fortunes in the Thurlow Nunn Premier Division next season.

That is according to joint-manager Matt Carmichael who, along with player-boss, Michael Brothers, took over from Paul Skingsley in January.

Since their pair’s arrival, Brantham have yet to win a game, losing four and drawing once, but that doesn’t tell the whole story, the 11th-placed Blue Imps having yet to play a team outside the current top-six.

“We started with a tough game against Newmarket, which we drew, and obviously we have gone on a run of defeats since then – games that could have gone either way,” said Carmichael, the former Little Oakley boss.

“Every game has been pretty much the same story, apart from the Stanway defeat when we never looked like getting back into the game. For instance, we went in 1-0 up at half-time at Felixstowe and we could have been winning 4-0.

“It’s frustrating and had we played lesser teams, we probably would not have been punished as much – the better sides are always going to punish you.

“We are where we are, in mid-table, because we are not putting our chances away, so we need to address that.”

Brantham host Godmanchester on Saturday (2pm KO) and, for the first time, face a team not towards the top of the table, having played third-placed Newmarket (D 2-2), sixth-placed Great Yarmouth Town twice (L 1-0 & 2-1), fifth-placed Stanway (L 2-1) and Felixstowe & Walton (L 2-1).

Despite their tough start, which has also included a number of postponements, Carmichael and Brothers have yet to see their team lose by more than a single goal.

Asked if that was encouraging, Carmichael added: “It’s a double-edged sword as personally you want to win for your own egos,” said Carmichael who, along with Brothers, have added Chris Rose to the backroom staff.

“But we have been able to analyse the games and look at the things we need to do right, although we have not needed to be overly critical.

“We are finding our feet and are learning on the job with a view to next season and we know what we need.”