Worthing boss Hinshelwood: Slow starts costing too many points – they have to stop

Worthing were 2-0 down in 18 minutes at home to Chelmsford on Saturday – before taking the game to their visitors and ending up unfortunate to lose 3-2.

They were denied a penalty when 2-1 down for what most thought was a clear handball but still pushed City all the way. The squad have lost key man Ricky Aguiar – recalled suddenly by parent club Swindon – and Hinshelwood admitted other absentees had left them depleted, with little room in the budget to add new face.

Worthing v Chelmsford in pictures by Mike Gunn.

They go to Truro on Saturday without several players but buoyed by the fact they are playing well – and are still fourth in the table, in the thick of the play-off race.

Hinshelwood said of Saturday’s defeat: “We didn’t start too well. Too many times we’ve gone 2-0 down before starting the game, and when you play against good teams, it’s always going to be hard to recover from that.

"We got it back to 2-1 and had a right go and their lad has made one of the best saves of the game – one of their defenders!

"It’s a pivotal moment in the game. You go in at 2-2 and the game’s completely different – maybe they don’t just shut up shop and sit with men behind the ball in the second half if it’s 2-2.

"They’ve got their goals, camped in and made it difficult. But when teams do that we have to be more patient and keep probing.

"We’ll learn from it. We looked a bit bare at the end.”

Hinshelwood said if he had worked out why they were tending to start games slowly, they would be up to 12 points better off.

"We’ve tried to gee the players up, we’ve tried everything. A little bit has to lie with their preparation and how they see the game. But it’s something we have to address and put right."

He added: “I thought the performance against Chelmsford was good, we’ve just gone two goals down. I thought we were the better team and played some really good football against a team who are proven at this level to do well. If we carry on that performance level we’ll pick up points.”