AFC Fylde assistant hoping Chesterfield defeat will provide players with a wake-up call

AFC Fylde assistant manager Colin Woodthorpe believes the Coasters’ defeat to Chesterfield should provide the players with a wake-up call.
Jordan Tunnicliffe beats Chesterfield's Will Evans to a header: Picture by Steve Flynn/AHPIX.comJordan Tunnicliffe beats Chesterfield's Will Evans to a header: Picture by Steve Flynn/AHPIX.com
Jordan Tunnicliffe beats Chesterfield's Will Evans to a header: Picture by Steve Flynn/AHPIX.com
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A number of Fylde’s promotion rivals slipped up at the weekend but they were unable to take advantage, going down to a 1-0 defeat at home to struggling Chesterfield.

Marc-Antoine Fortune’s 13th-minute effort proved to be the difference as Fylde slumped to their sixth league defeat of the season.

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Fylde have a chance to put things right tonight, when they host fourth-bottom Havant and Waterloovile at Mill Farm.

Woodthorpe said: “The players are disappointed and the staff are disappointed.

“We had a similar game against Leyton Orient last year where a struggling team came here. But listen, they’ve done what they needed to do to get a result.

“They broke the game up, they get a goal from a mistake and we huffed and puffed. We weren’t on a great day.

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“It’s an opportunity lost when you look at the scores, so it’s a frustrating day.

“You can sense sometimes the games are going that way. One goal was enough and they didn’t really look to get another one.

“If we show what we did in the last 10 minutes in the rest of the game then it wouldn’t have been an issue, but it was too late.

“But they need to wake up and think if they want to get out of this division or be successful in and around the play-offs, you can’t play like that for 70 minutes and expect to get out of this league. Absolutely no chance.”

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Fylde are fourth in the National League and can close the gap on third-placed Leyton Orient to a point tonight.

Woodthorpe added: “We’ve only got 13 games left, so we’re still in a great position. Wjust need to kick on.

“Results have been kind to us, so we’ve got away with it a little bit. We need to pick up and go again on Tuesday. It’s another home game and we’ve got to get back into it.

“Chesterfield did what they had to do. It’s been difficult for them since coming into this division.

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“Other teams have found it difficult as well – you look at Hartlepool and Leyton Orient last season

“They’ve had to regroup so it’s building blocks for them so it was an ideal away performance, but it doesn’t make it any easier on our side.

“But it’s up to us to break down the door they’re going to lock.

“It is down to you to make the running. I did expect it to be, so I did warn them in the warm-up.

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“I think they’re the ones that weren’t really expecting it which is a bit strange, so that is something we need to address. If we can see what the game is going to be like, they need to as well and adjust accordingly.

“There’s no excuse as we’re the team with something to play for, they haven’t.

“We should have dominated them, we should have been all over them. It’s on our patch so there’s no excuses for the passes going astray.

“They’re at the other end of the division. We’re at the top, they’re not, but we needed to perform like a team that is at the top. It was just frustrating. You could tell it was going to be a frustrating game straight away.

“Our game management was poor and theirs was good, especially when they went a goal ahead.”