Home hammering is a wake-up call says Hucknall Town boss Andy Ingle after 4-0 friendly defeat by Clifton All Whites

Hucknall had beaten Pagett Rangers 2-1 in their first friendly on Saturday with goals by Niall Towle and Brad Lathall, but were well off the pace on Tuesday.

“You can't compare the two games we've played – they were as different as night and day,” said Ingle.

“We did experience this problems last year and I would rather it happened now in pre-season.

“I am sure it will happen again during the season and we have got to be prepared.

“We just have to keep going and keep believing what we're doing.

“It happens, and sometimes you need a bit of a wake up call regardless of who it's against.

“On Saturday we moved the ball the way we wanted to move it and got everyone involved – some got more minutes than others as their fitness level was higher than those just back from holidays.

“I thought we looked pretty good and looked sharp in front of goal, having numerous shots.

“The overall play was good and I was reasonably happy.

“But on Tuesday we were abysmal. It was like we'd picked a team off the street who had never played before.

“It was as bad as it gets. The lads just didn't turn up for whatever reason.

“But this is what pre-season is all about. The other team were just better than us and came well prepared and well organised. They scored very early and capitalised on any mistakes we made.”

He added: “Yes we are trying different things but that's not an excuse. The lads admitted we were nowhere near what we should be doing or what we have been doing.

“They accepted it was nowhere near good enough and you can work with that.”

Hucknall's promoted squad should be bolstered by the time Handsworth visit on Saturday, Ingle saying: “I should be able to announce three new players by the end of the week.

“I have a yes from all three but they want to speak to their previous clubs and we have honoured that and promised not to announce it until they come back and confirm they've dealt with that side of it.

“We want to be respectful to their old clubs, albeit they are free agents.

“But you should never burn your bridges in football and I would rather all of them joined us on good terms with their last clubs.”​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​