Bognor Regis Town may have to navigate through some choppy waters

Blake watched his team throw away a 2-1 lead to lose 3-2 at Canvey Island in the Isthmian premier division last Saturday in a game that summed up all the good and not so good aspects of play from the visitors.

Tom Chalaye put the Rocks ahead on four minutes before Evans Kouassi pulled it level 11 minutes later. Then Tom Bragg gave Bognor the lead only to see the home side rally -- and two second half goals from Brad Sach secured Canvey the victory.

Now Blake, along with assistant manager Jamie Howell, want their troops to go again as they eye progress in the FA Trophy against Bowers & Pitsea at Nyewood Lane this Saturday.

And Blake said: "I don’t think there is any doubt that we will score lots of cracking goals this season. But I want us to score more of them. That way, when you do come under pressure and perhaps concede, you have the cushion of the goals that you probably deserve given the balance of play.

"And we must defend much, much better. That is not to say that, in periods, we don’t do so. In short, if we strengthen at either end of the pitch then defeats such as that at Canvey Island simply don’t happen. It was a game I thought we dominated enough to pick up a win.

"How we lost is baffling in one way. Then, you realise that actually you have missed good chances in front of goal, and been guilty of defensive lapses also. So, me and Jamie have got plenty to do on the training pitch with the players; reinforcing our tactics and instilling belief in the players.

"We have good, young players and a blend of experience means we will be fine. But it is obviously frustrating when you can’t seem to find a balance. In mitigation for the narrow defeat at Canvey, we had players of the calibre of Harvey Whyte, Calvin Davies and Jake Flannigan missing on the day and any squad would benefit from those three.

"Calvin was suspended but Harvey and Jake are out with injuries that are proving difficult to put a time on in terms of when they might return. But we have to get on with it. And we will.

"Yes, the inconsistency is all too apparent but we are convinced we will get there. Against Bowers on Saturday we get the chance to have a run in a cup competition. A few years back the club did ever so well to get to the semi-final and eventually lost out to Grimsby over two legs but the run then gave the club good headlines, provided the supporters with lots to cheer. We'll be trying desperately to get the win for the fans and then go once more when we travel to Enfield for a league game in Tuesday.”