CHIPPENHAM Town’s winless run continued after a 0-0 draw against Hampton & Richmond Borough on Saturday preceded a 2-1 defeat to Hemel Hempstead in midweek.

An entertaining goalless draw in London gave the Bluebirds a platform to end their five-game winless run, but the hosts couldn’t take their chance against a struggling Hemel outfit that had previously only won once in National League South this term.

Swindon Town loanee Ricky Aguiar put Chippenham in front at the Thornbury Surfacing Stadium after tapping home the rebound from his own shot after half an hour.

Yet, Mike Cook’s men crumbled on the stroke of half-time as Jack Westbrook found the back of the net with a header, before Freddie Hinds sent a curling effort past Chippenham goalkeeper Will Henry with 10 minutes to play for what proved to be the winner.

Speaking to Chippenham Town club media after Tuesday night’s defeat, Cook said: “It was a poor night at the office, especially in the first half.

“We were not anywhere near where we needed to be, but to be fair to them I thought they played quite well.

“They made a couple of changes over the past week, but it was nothing we weren’t expecting.

“It was a little bit better in the second half – I thought their goalkeeper did well in the last 20 minutes with three or four opportunities that looked like they were definitely in, but he’s stuck out a hand or a foot. But overall, it was very disappointing.”

The Bluebirds will be hoping to end what has been a wretched start to the season at home, having won just two of their seven games in all competitions at the Thornbury Surfacing Stadium.

Cook revealed after Tuesday night’s defeat to Hemel that he would almost certainly be making significant changes to both the team and the tactics as Chippenham welcome the side which is currently bottom of National League South and winless in their past 10 games in all competitions – Braintree Town.

He said: “We’ve got to change a couple of personnel around, and we’ll change the system too. The system we operated with on Saturday worked quite well but not on Tuesday.

“If we can just rotate around different positions when we’re playing without getting interrupted with injuries or what-have-you, we’ll be alright. But it’s just a case of coping with that at the moment.“If we can just rotate around different positions when we’re playing without getting interrupted with injuries or what-have-you, we’ll be alright. But it’s just a case of coping with that at the moment.

“At home, it’s not a happy place for us right now. We’ve got to get on with it and hopefully put it right on Saturday.”