CHIPPENHAM Town manager Mark Collier has urged his troops to stick together after a 1-0 loss at Dorking Wanderers on Tuesday night made it three National League South defeats in a row.

The Bluebirds claimed three wins and nine points from their opening six fixtures this season but have been unable to add to that tally since.

Collier concedes things are not going his sides’ way at present, but has no doubt things will improve if the group remains united.

“We are in some choppy waters at the moment but I have told the players that the main thing is that we stick together and remain a tight group,” said Collier.

“It’s not doom and gloom, we can turn the corner.

“Injuries are hurting us a little bit at the moment but we have got good players.

“If everyone keeps working hard for each other then results will start to improve and we will come out on the other side stronger.”

Matthew Briggs got the decisive goal on Tuesday night as his second-half strike was all that separated the sides.

Things could have been worse for the Bluebirds but Will Puddy saved a penalty after Kieran Parselle was sent off for a foul in the box.

Collier said: “It was a tight game but we conceded a poor goal and didn’t score one ourselves, so it’s a disappointing result.

“If we’d come away with a 0-0 draw or even a 1-1, we’d have been happy with that.

“There were still some positives to take from it, as there has been in every game.

“The pitch was quite difficult. Playing on 4G pitches is familiar to us now but it was quite a slow surface so took a bit of getting used to.

“We started well and could have gone 1-0 up. Dorking came back into it but were happy to play on the counter.

“We were content at 0-0 at half-time but then we conceded a poor goal where they broke two-on-one from our free-kick.

“It’s a tough one. I thought we deserved something from the game.”