Run of Isthmian League matches can help Dean Cox’s Burgess Hill Town forget trio of cup losses

The Hillians went out of three compeitions in eight days – losing 3-1 to Hythe Town in the FA Trophy, 3-2 at Three Bridges in the Velocity Trophy and 3-0 at Sheppey in the FA Cup.

It’s a classic case of now bieng able to ‘concentrate on the league’ – and Cox will be looking for a sharp improvement on the most recent of those cup losses, the reverse at Sheppey.

"We didn’t get going and it was the first time the players had let me down in terms of application – we were sluggish,” Cox said.

"We went 1-0 down then let in another two that were avoidable, then Martyn Box got a red card late on, so it was one of those days.

"But after beating Bognor in the previous round, it was very disappointing to go out with a whimper.”

Hill have not played since that setback 12 days ago but Cox said the players had shown a first-class attitude in training since then and were now ready to tackle a run of league games, especially as only three Isthmian games had been played so far.

Cox’s men, who are 12th, host 19th-placed Merstham this Saturday, then go to Ashford next Saturday and Horndean on Tuesday, October 10.

They also have a Sussex Senior Cup tie against Little Common to fit in but Cox said it would be useful to focus on the league for a while.

"Merstham have had a tough start but will want to come and make it difficult for us,” he said; “Home games are so important to us – we want to make our place a fortress and win games in front of our own fans.

"From what I’ve seen of the league so far, I think teams with bigger budgets like Ramsgate will be up there but from eighth place to the bottom, you have a lot of teams all with the same sort of hopes.

"The ones who can string wins together will be the ones in the mix and we want to be in that pack who are challenging.”

Box will sit out the clash with Merstham through suspension and Reece Hallard is out for several weeks with an abductor tear, but everyone else is available.