IT is important we get back to doing the basics well so confidence can be restored to defenders at Worcester City.

Things can change quickly in football and we have gone from going six games unbeaten to conceding six goals in two matches.

During our unbeaten run I was praising the comebacks, the spirit of the squad and, in particular, the defensive display at Colwyn Bay last month.

Suddenly, in the games against Gloucester City and Vauxhall Motors we have shipped six goals from errors and are having inquests into what has happened.

There will be spells in the season when you defend well and that has been the case for us this year. Histon and Eastwood away are examples of that and, although we lost 2-0 at Stalybridge, we defended really solidly and it took two quality goals from a team challenging for the title to beat us.

However, pretty much the same back-four and keeper were involved at Vauxhall and Gloucester.

There’s a nice mix of experience, youth and energy. On paper, it looks a good balance. But conceding poor goals affects confidence, similar to a goalscorer going through a barren spell.

Players start to think about things and the more they do that the harder it gets and they stop doing the basics. I went through it as a player and it’s about taking a step back and focusing on the simple aspects. That’s what we are trying to instil into the team defensively at the moment.

Players make mistakes and it’s easy to say they need to forget about them and move on. However, in reality it’s not that easy and it affects more players than not.

It shows strength of mind for a player to put an error behind them.

What were Martyn Naylor, Neil Cartwright, Jacob Rowe, Ryan Clarke and Lee Ayres doing well when we were keeping clean sheets?

Matt Gardiner and I try to get inside the mind of a player and work out what they’re thinking and what their confidence levels are.

Ryan, for example, was immense last season and in his previous spell with the club. There have also been times this season when he has shown the same form.

He has made mistakes as well but it’s not him becoming a bad player, it’s about confidence.

It is our job to restore a positive outlook and make players believe in their own ability.

Our style of play is no different away from home to what it is at St George’s Lane. We keep the game tight and wait for our opportunities because we are capable of scoring goals.