CALNE Town boss Dave Ferris was left praising the players who turned up for the fight as they fell to a 4-0 defeat to league-leading Wellington, having only named a squad of 11.

Such were the selection issues for Calne, Ferris’ assistant Jamie Davies, who was carrying an injury of his own, was forced to start.

A Luke Bellinger brace and a Tom Ellis strike gave the hosts a commanding lead at the break and despite Joe Williamson going off with an ankle injury shortly after the restart, the hosts only added to their tally by one through Jack Bryant.

“It was very, very difficult,” said Ferris.

“When you are playing a team that have only lost four games all season, you want to go with your strongest squad and unfortunately we only had 11 players available.

“At the end of the day, the 11 players put on a great show, especially when one of the lads came off injured just after half-time.

“We played the last 35 minutes with 10 players and in terms of performance, it was a very good showing.

“The result, to a large extent was irrelevant, the performance on the day was all that I cared about.”

Calne remain second from bottom in the First Division, two points behind Corsham Town, who tasted a 1-0 defeat at Radstock Town, and Ferris knows they face an uphill battle to steer clear of danger, starting at former side Chippenham Park this evening.

“It’s going to be a difficult game but if players can’t get up for a local derby, it’s very difficult to see what they will get up for,” he added.

“We’ve got four more games after that where we have got an opportunity to try and improve our league position.”

Park head into tonight’s fixture on the back of a 1-0 win at home to Portishead Town, lifting them into eighth spot.

A brace from Jamie Wallen helped Devizes Town to a 3-0 win over 10-man Chard Town, Jordan Matthews notching the third, while Malmesbury Victoria were 3-2 winners away to Almondsbury UWE.