WREXHAM manager Denis Smith admitted he was angry after his side was crushed 5-1 at Huddersfield on Saturday - but said he had not resorted to throwing tea cups in the dressing room.

The heavy defeat at the McAlpine Stadium abruptly ended the Red Dragons' revival under Smith that had seen Wrexham go unbeaten in four matches.

"There's no use throwing tea cups about. You might get a reaction if you do that once a year but if you do that all the time the players won't listen to you," Smith said yesterday.

"I'd rather be constructive. We've got to sit down together, have a talk about it and find out what went wrong.

"I know a couple of players were below par at Huddersfield and I want to know why. I want to put things right by talking to the players."

Three days after their mauling in Yorkshire and Smith's men have an ideal opportunity to exact revenge over Huddersfield as they face Lou Macari's Terriers in the second round of the LDV Vans Trophy at The Racecourse tonight (7.45pm).

"Sooner or later we were going to get beaten but I hoped it would be 1-0 or 2-1. A 5-1 loss looks awful and I don't like it," added Smith.

"I like winning and I hate losing, and losing 5-1 doesn't make me feel very good, I can tell you that. People say there are worse things in life but that doesn't make it any easier.

"We had given our fans a little taste of success, then we go and kick them in the teeth at Huddersfield.

"I think everyone would say we didn't deserve to lose by that margin but it's in the record books now and there's nothing we can do about it.

"The problem I've got is that I can't field a settle team because I'm getting players suspended every five minutes. I need a settled team. I want players playing week in, week out.

"But I'm glad we've got a competitive game so soon after Saturday because I wouldn't want to stew on a 5-1 defeat for seven days.

"Our next games are against Cardiff and Reading. People can be pessimistic but I love these sorts of games.

"They're a good test for us and if you want to play football then you love playing the bigger clubs. When I was a player I used to love playing against Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal."

Smith said he is taking the LDV Vans Trophy very seriously and is expecting 100pc commitment from his players tonight.

"I want to show Huddersfield that we're better than we were on Saturday. I take every game and every competition very seriously. The LDV Vans Trophy is a piece of silverware and the final will be at the Millennium