AFC Fylde manager Dave Challinor insists that his side must get yesterday’s 4-1 defeat at Nuneaton Town out of their system immediately.

The Coasters saw their seven-match unbeaten run halted at Liberty Way and their lead at the top of the National League North cut to six points however Challinor was making no excuses.

“I’ll start by apologising to the people who came down to watch us and ultimately I take responsibility because we were woeful. We are lucky because of the results that we have picked up leading up to this point. We still have a lead and our form up to now has given us another life.

“We need to get that game out of our system quickly and that starts immediately.

“Their throw-ins caused problems because we didn’t head the ball. It’s plain and simple. In a similar manner to the Salford defeat, I could hide behind the fact that we needed to make changes defensively and that we don’t have a proper back four at the minute. However, the players that go in there still need to do their jobs.

“You have to compete because there’s only one ball on the pitch. Through a lack of desire of wanting to head the ball, we’ve ended up costing ourselves today. They are poor goals again and I’m sick of saying it. It’s not like teams are doing anything fantastic to beat us, they’re simple goals.

“We have been top since the beginning of the season so we know how to stay up there. We move on straight away to Saturday. We aren’t getting nervous because we are still in the best position of team in the league and it’s still ours to lose. But we must make sure at this crucial time that we don’t let ourselves down at the final hurdle.”