MANAGER Paul Collicutt insists “it is not a case of feeling pressure” on the back of Evesham United’s flagging home fortunes.

Saturday’s 2-0 Southern League Division One South loss to Cirencester Town at the Jubilee Stadium marked an eighth match without victory in all competitions – seven of which have been at home.

The result prompted a backlash from some supporters on social media who singled out Collicutt for criticism but the man in the dugout remained steadfast behind his players.

"People pay their money and are entitled to their opinions whether that's good or bad," he said.

"One thing I would say is we're all in this together and by hook or by crook we have to get out of this bad run.

“I don’t feel any pressure. Anyone who knows me will tell you how I hate losing, I don’t care whether it’s football or tiddlywinks.

“I am competitive in my business life, I fight for every penny every day at work and it is the same in football.

“I kick every ball and am very passionate so it is not a case of feeling pressure. I do it because I enjoy it and the day that stops is the day I would walk away.

“It is more disappointment for me because I know we can do better and I get very frustrated. Sometimes that frustration leads to you showing a bit of anger and this season that has been there when we haven’t learned from certain situations.

“It is not about ability because I genuinely believe we have a squad of players who are quite capable, it is about getting them to work and get that extra yard out of them. Given time I am sure we will turn the corner.

“You learn more about people when you’re having a hard time. It is very easy to play in a winning side, now we need to roll up our sleeves from one to 16.”

Like the previous week’s draw with Larkhall Athletic, Collicutt declared himself pleased with his side’s performance.

“Cirencester are one of the form sides in the league and the difference on the day was the striker Ben Whitehead,” he added.

“I thought we contained them pretty well for the majority of the game but unfortunately didn’t concentrate for the full 90 minutes and got punished.

“The two goals we conceded were preventable. Mistakes have cost us dearly of late and while I felt the performance was reasonable and one that could have got us something out of it, it didn’t.

“We have to step up to the plate because things have not been dropping for us and you have to make your own luck in this game. We haven’t done that.

“It is either how strong or how weak the league is but it speaks volumes that Yate lost their first game of the season to the bottom team on Saturday.

“You cannot take anyone lightly and the sooner we start to realise that and rectify the mistakes we’re making, the better.

“I can live with errors if we learn from them but unfortunately we haven’t done that of late. The players know how I feel about it and I know they want to put it right.”

The Robins head to Winchester City tonight (7.45) boosted by the returns of Steve Davies, Liam Harding and Kye Simpson. Carl Brown is unavailable.