Concerned Tristan Lewis senses Hayes & Yeading could be getting sucked into a third straight relegation battle.
Two years ago United dropped out of the Conference Premier and only survived by the skin of their teeth in the Conference South in 2012-13.
Lewis, United’s assistant manager, took joint control of the club with Delroy Preddie at the back end of last season following the departure of manager Nas Bashir.
The dynamic duo kept the team in the Conference South and despite a positive start under new boss Phil Babb, results have taken a turn for the worse in recent weeks.
Tuesday’s 2-0 loss to Bath City was Hayes & Yeading’s fifth straight defeat and they find themselves sliding towards the bottom three.
Six points separate United from the drop zone now and Lewis fears the club could be dragged into another basement battle.
He said: “I think some of the players have let the manager down and don’t realise that this league is a tough league and you suffer the consequences of making too many errors.
"It’s becoming a bit of a habit. Myself and Del have been in this situation before and it’s a worrying spiral of decline that you can begin to embark on.
“If you don’t learn, you don’t improve, and it gets harder - that’s that way we’re heading at the minute. Some of them need to have a long, hard look at themselves.
“The conditions [against Bath] were difficult but they were difficult for both teams. I don’t think we deserve to be winning games. We’ve got a lack of maturity, a lack of desire and today it looked like we had a lack of idea.
"I see how hard the manager works and how much he wanted to win, but unfortunately the players are not reflecting that. It’s difficult for Phil to take that and it’s difficult for me and Del to support him when the players, we feel, are letting him down.
“We don’t want three relegation scraps in a row but unless we find a bit of character quickly, that might be what happens. The character in that dressing room is not right at the moment and it needs to be fixed.”
Hayes & Yeading ended the 2012-13 Conference South season in 17th place, four points above the relegation places.
