WEYMOUTH manager Mark Molesley admits it is “absolutely vital” to “bounce back” when the Terras entertain Basingstoke in their Evo-Stik Southern League Premier fixture tonight (7.45pm).
Molesley’s men face the Dragons at the Bob Lucas Stadium having lost their previous two league games, a form guide identical to that of tonight’s opponents.
However, the Terras have made a habit of winning games immediately after losses, with defeats to St Ives and Tiverton Town followed up with victories over Frome Town and Chippenham Town respectively.
Asked whether he had that pattern in mind, Molesley said: “Without a shadow of a doubt. It’s absolutely vital that our reactions are good.
“No-one likes losing so we need to bounce back as soon as we can. They’re coming thick and fast and the next game is always the biggest game.
“For us we need to react quickly and go and show what we’ve been like in the majority of the season and get back to what we’re doing and what we do well.
“We need to learn from our mistakes but also promote our strengths and get back to doing what we do well and believing in ourselves and playing with that confidence.
“We just looked like we were devoid of confidence, which was strange, there’s no reason to be because we had a good win last week.
“So you can’t get too down and we’re never too high after a win. We’ll take it if we can turn it around and react quickly then we’ll look on this as a lesson learnt and hopefully it will stand us in good stead for the rest of the season.”
And Molesley insisted there was no danger of his players prematurely looking ahead to the FA Cup third qualifying round clash with Chelmsford City on Saturday.
“We won’t even look at that game until after (Basingstoke) is out of the way.
“The league is always the priority, the cup’s the cherry on the cake so our full focus is on getting our league form to where it needs to be,” he said.
Calvin Brooks is expected to be in the frame for a starting berth after serving a one-game suspension, and Josh Wakefield made his return from illness against Hereford on Saturday.
But there are doubts over the fitness of striker Ben Thomson, who was substituted at half-time with a hamstring problem.
Molesley said: “Unfortunately it isn’t ideal, he’s our talisman, he’s our focal point up front. I think he was struggling a little bit through the first half so we never really saw him – that was a shame.
“Josh was ill but he’s come on and got 20-25 minutes under his belt. It’s 25 minutes for him to get back to full fitness and it also keeps that competition for places.”
