​Midfield remains the key concern for Matlock Town boss Carruthers

Town go to Marske United on Saturday off the back of a 2-0 loss at Worksop Town on Tuesday night, that preceded by a 4-2 reverse at the hands of Warrington Rylands at the Proctor Cars Stadium on Saturday.

And with a return to form a priority, Carruthers believed new faces will be required before too long as he analysed the latest loss.

He said: “We’ve tried different midfield players but are missing that experienced player in there pulling the strings.

"Worksop had Paul Green and Terry Hawkridge in there on Tuesday night and they ran the game against us and it’s now something we’re looking to target and address it quickly.

"I couldn’t fault the lads for their effort and work rate at Worksop, they really put a shift in, but our quality in the final third and from our set pieces just wasn’t good enough.

"Worksop are a good side and were the better side on the night as they had that added quality which was evident in their finishes and the quality of the chances they created.

"I said to the lads we were still in the game at half-time and to be honest we still were up until stoppage time but just couldn’t find that bit of quality to get us an equaliser.

"Macclesfield and Worksop are the kind of benchmark teams we look at and we find ourselves short of that at the moment.”

Matlock ran out 5-0 winners at home to Marske just over a fortnight ago, Saturday’s game rearranged due to both sides being out of the FA Cup, but Carruthers said: “That result is pretty much their team talk on Saturday so we can’t simply turn up expecting to win.

"They’ll want to put it right and we know there are no easy games in this league, especially off the back of three defeats, so we have to pick the lads up, get their confidence and morale up and go to Marske aiming to get the points.”

Meanwhile, Matlock will have a home tie in the third qualifying round of the FA Trophy on Saturday, October 7.

They’ll host Bedford Town, who are currently flying high at the top of the Southern Premier League Division One Central with a 100 per cent record so far.

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