MELKSHAM Town boss Darren Perrin predicted that his side could come a cropper at Bitton but he could never have anticipated his side’s spectacular capitulation last weekend.

Melksham, who had netted 14 goals in their last two games, led 2-1 at half-time thanks to goals from Dan King and Dan Kovacs but were left floundering as they conceded three times in just under four minutes early in the second period, with a third from Ben Thomson proving little more than a consolation.

Perrin reckoned that his side could have snatched a result after being denied a penalty late on when Kovacs was brought down in the box but the Conigre chief was in no doubt that would have been more than his team deserved.

“In my time in management, I’ve never seen a team of mine capitulate like that – it was schoolboy defending,” said Perrin.

“It was three goals in three minutes and 57 seconds and I couldn’t believe it. And to be fair, Bitton went for the jugular after that and could have scored more.

“We had a cast-iron penalty turned down at the end but if we’d scored that, it would have papered over the cracks because our performance didn’t warrant a draw.

“I did say that it would happen but I wasn’t expecting that. We’ve got a game against Gillingham coming up and a match against Bristol Manor Farm on Monday, where we’re expecting a crowd of almost 300, and we have to do better.

“I’ll definitely be making changes but I certainly won’t be curtailing our attacking philosophy.”

Goalscorer King looks set for a spell on the sidelines after being forced off with a hamstring injury.

Perrin said: “We tried to take him off as quickly as possible when he said that it was tight so hopefully it’s not as bad as it could be – we’ll assess him but I’m sure that he’ll be missing this weekend.

“It’s a shame because he’s been sensational since joining us. He’s added an extra edge to our play.”

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