Neal Ardley hopes we continue our trend of responding to setbacks in a positive fashion when we visit Aldershot on Saturday.
We’ll be looking to put our heaviest reverse of the season behind us following last week’s 3-0 loss at home to Barrow – our first at Meadow Lane since 10 August – and avoid a second straight defeat.
We’ve not lost two in a row during 2019-20 and the boss feels it’s important we maintain that statistic.
“We’ve bounced back quickly in the past and put bad results to bed, so we have to keep proving we can do it,” urged Ardley.
“It’s important not to get into a rut and lose a couple on the trot because you soon tumble down the table.
“I don’t like losing games, but it’s part and parcel of football and we certainly try to play in a way that shows we’re not scared to lose.
“With a home game on Tuesday and the FA Cup next Sunday, it’s an exciting week.
"If we bounce back at Aldershot, it sets everything up well.”
Ardley says the task in training this week has been different to the one at hand following our other defeats.
“Our job has been to pick the players up, which previously we’ve not had to do because we deserved more from the games,” he explained.
“This time we got beaten and that makes it a little bit harder to come back from.
“We’ve tried to find the balance of telling the boys they’re not doing things right but also picking them up.
“The players have wanted to train and get on with it, so hopefully we have a really determined group that are in high spirits come 3pm on Saturday.”
Aldershot will also be looking to bounce back from a heavy defeat – 6-1 at Dagenham and Redbridge – and Ardley thinks they’ll pose a stern test.
“They’ll make sure their performance levels are a lot higher this week and that makes them a dangerous side,” he said.
“They’re a team who mix up their shape, and their last result makes it hard to know what to expect because they might change things.
“That’s where our scenario training comes in – that helps us to try and cope with it all.
“We’ll have to go there and do a lot well to earn the right to win.”