Watt Laments "Tired" Display

Margate Manager Steve Watt felt his side looked tired as they slipped to defeat against Kingstonian on Tuesday evening.

After an impressive second-half comeback on Saturday afternoon against Harlow Town, The Gate fell short of their own standards, according to Watt.

“We never looked like we were going to get going, we looked lethargic and we looked like a tired bunch of players. I could easily talk about the changes we had to make, especially in the back four but I can’t say that was a direct result on the performance.”

“We looked like a tired team for whatever reason and at this stage in the season, it’s not acceptable to put out performances like that. We were able to come out of it on Saturday, we had enough chances to do the same tonight but it wasn’t to be.”

Speaking of the missed chances Margate had, Watt was equally disappointed in the manner his team conceded a goal in each half.

“We’ve hit the bar, hit the post and you think if any of those go in it could be different but not with the two type of goals we’ve conceded. We’ve lost possession in the middle of the park and got cut open which you cannot do against a team like Kingstonian with the pace they have.”

“I said to the guys before the game, if they performed at the level they did during the first half on Saturday, you will get beat as Kingstonian pose more of a threat than Harlow and unfortunately that was the case.”

A sour note of an otherwise languid 90 minutes, was the sending off of centre-back Ben Swift, making his return to the starting eleven following a hamstring injury. There was no sympathy from the Manager who couldn’t hide his disappointment about the dismissal.

“It was unacceptable. It was a moment of madness and I don’t know what Swifty was thinking. It’s a problem now, as we seem to be struggling to get through a game without going down to 10 men which cannot continue to happen.”

“Some of the other recent red cards have been unlucky but tonight’s was silly and indefensible.”

The impending suspension further reduces Watt’s defensive options and with tough games coming up, there’s plenty for the Manager to mull over.

“Tom Wynter is back and we will have to assess Liam Friend and hope he can play a part. We will be without George Essuman and Tom Mills. Hopefully Tom and Friendy can come back in as Staines are a good side.”

“I watched them versus Billericay and they attack well and have got goals in their team, so we will have to be a lot better than we were this evening if we’re going to take anything away from that. So, we will patch the side up as best as we can and we will go out and do our best.”

Watt added, “When you’re looking at the side-lines and the players unavailable to you, I think you can see how it could have been a different result if we had the people and options available to us.”

With the games coming thick and fast across the division, there is a lot at stake and lots to play for and Watt admitted the team talks will now write themselves.

“They’ll be many twists and turns. I’ll be honest that I’m glad we’ve got big games from now until the end of the season as there is no motivation needed for those type of games.”

“We seem to fall short against teams we’re expected to beat for some reason, which is something I need to address as Manager moving forwards. But we have three massive games now against tough opposition and that should be enough motivation to get the best out of the players.”

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