GORDON Bartlett admits Wealdstone face five cup finals just to reach the play-offs in the wake of last night’s derby draw at Harrow Borough.
For the second game running Stones drew a blank in front of goal, so could only take a point from their relegation-haunted neighbours – a result which the Stones’ boss believes leaves no wriggle room ahead of the visit of title chasers AFC Hornchurch on Saturday.
Stones may be paying the price for their run to the semi-finals of the FA Trophy during the campaign.
But Bartlett knows they must recapture the resolve of their cup exploits to achieve their goal.
He said: “We need the spirit of the FA Trophy run. We have got five cup ties now and we have got to win them all.
“We have got to be strong mentally and tonight we were not strong enough in that department.
“The reason we have achieved what we have this season is there has been a great spirit within the side, but at the moment the dressing-room is frustrated.
“You could tell that when things went wrong tonight we didn’t have a good reaction and we need to change that.”
Bartlett acknowledged at a time when you are playing win or bust AFC Hornchuch would probably not be his first choice of opponent to see pulling up at The Vale.
He has positive memories of the draw with the Urchins in the reverse fixture, but says his players need to be less shot shy after failing to score in back-to-back games for the first time since early October.
He added: “We could have picked an easier game than Hornchurch, but it is still a massive opportunity for us and they didn’t beat us at their place.
“Richard Jolly’s shot in the first half was the only time we tested the Harrow goalkeeper tonight and a couple of times in the second half we had the chance to shoot and passed it up.
“At a time when we need goals we need not to be frightened to miss.”
