ANGRY boss Ian Britton warned his players to "shape up or ship out" after Kidderminster Harriers suffered two defeats in a row for the first time at Hartlepool.

Harriers followed up Tuesday's FA Cup exit at Rushden and Diamonds with a 2-1 loss at Division Three leaders Hartlepool United.

As a result, Britton has repeated his threat to make changes to the squad who are struggling to match their earlier impressive form.

The defensive mistakes that wrecked Harriers' November are leaving a particularly bitter taste with Britton, a defender in his playing days.

He raged: "Whether it takes me four weeks or six weeks or until the end of the season, they will do it the way I want them to. If it means I have to change players, then believe me, I will.

"I wonder if some of them have got the bottle for the fight. We are too nicey, nicey. Maybe we have had an Indian summer. Maybe it's now too much for some of them but I'm not going to let it keep happening."

Britton was honest in his appraisal of the Hartlepool display, moaning: "We were poor in the first half and Hartlepool could have had four or five goals.

"We are miles away from what we were doing five or six weeks ago.

"The goals we are letting in are not even schoolboy errors. I wouldn't let the youth team get away with it.

"We've played the two top teams in this division this week and I don't think they're that much better than us.

"They might not have better players than us but what they do have is the right players in the right areas who do their jobs."

Britton proceeded to cancel the players' afternoon off on Monday and sat them through a video nasty of Saturday's defeat.

With no game until next Tuesday, he has plenty of time to get his message across.