MARK Collier admitted he had to lift a disappointed dressing room following Chippenham Town’s 1-0 defeat to leaders Poole Town.

Despite the wet and windy conditions on Tuesday night, the Evo-Stik League Southern Premier Division clash went ahead.

Poole had the advantage of the slope, with Storm Barney behind them, in the opening period and Jack Dickson scored the decisive goal 10 minutes in.

Chippenham pushed in vain for the equaliser, with Collier left feeling like his team should have taken something from the game.

“We were disappointed not to get something from the game because our second half display definitely warranted it,” he said.

“It is always difficult when the conditions are, well they were atrocious for football as you can imagine.

“They scored a decent goal in the first half with the wind going down the slope at Hardenhuish and after that we were quite comfortable.

“We created a few half-chances ourselves and as the wind gathered and the rain came, it made it increasingly difficult to create that clear-cut chance.

“We had lots of possession and we bombarded their goal and their keeper has made three or four very good saves.

“They have put themselves on the line and made some decent blocks and Lady Luck certainly wasn’t shining on us.”

Collier will be taking the positives from the encounter as the Bluebirds look to get back to winning ways with a trip to second-from-bottom Bedworth Town on Saturday.

“Poole; I would expect to win the league and we have gone toe-to-toe with them in two games,” he added.

“We have won one and lost one and we need to take the positives from that.

“I would like to think if we play like we did on Tuesday night, then we can win this weekend, if we have that little bit of luck on our side.

"It turns in and out over the course of the season and at this moment in time, we are not getting that lucky break. Hopefully, we can get that against Bedworth on Saturday.

“It is on a 4G pitch, which changes things a little bit, but we train on a 4G pitch and we have got some players who can make a difference on that surface and they might get their chance on Saturday.”