FC Halifax Town manager Darren Kelly has demanded a response from his side against Chester FC this weekend after an embarrassing midweek defeat.
For the second time this month, the Shaymen conceded seven times as Grimsby Town hammered them 7-0 at Blundell Park on Tuesday.
Ex-Oldham Athletic boss Kelly admits his squad are short on confidence and has warned it will take time to turn things around, but wants his team to come out fighting.
"You can’t sit down and sulk about it, you’ve got to respond," said Kelly, whose assistant is former Chester City manager Jim Harvey.
"Confidence could be why your mind and your feet don’t connect and you don’t feel comfortable doing things.
"When you’re comfortable and you’re confident, your mind and your feet connect because they believe in what they’re going to do.
"Before we came in the confidence was low but there’s a process to try and build that.
"But we’ll continue to work hard to get the right personnel in."
READ: We've got to build on Southport spirit, says Chester manager Steve Burr
Halifax sacked Neil Aspin, who had been manager since April 2009, last month after winning just once in the opening 10 games.
Northern Irishman Kelly was confirmed as his replacement at the start of October. The 36-year-old was appointed Oldham boss at the end of last season but sacked in September after nine games in charge.
Kelly, who has brought in winger Kieran Sadlier and experienced midfielder Nicky Wroe on loan, and remains convinced he can lead them up the table.
He said: "It’s a long process. I’ve only been in the job a week-and-a-half. We’re under no illusions. It’s not a quick fix.
"We want to try and turn it round as quickly as we can. We know there’s a lot of work to do and we’ll work hard to do that.
"The games are coming thick and fast, which is good when you have a result like Tuesday, you have Saturday to turn it round.
"But you want clear weeks so you can work on the players properly. We’ve been having a game Saturday, a bit of recovery on a Monday then into the game on the Tuesday, then more recovery work on Thursday and a game on Saturday.
"It’ll be good when these games die down a bit so we can work with the players properly.
"The most important thing is that at the end of the season we’re nowhere near where we are now."
Halifax are second bottom in the National League with 10 points from 17 matches. The Blues recorded a 1-0 win at The Shay in the second game of the campaign through a first-half Jordan Chapell goal.
England C midfielder Kingsley James, who turned down a new deal with Chester in the summer , and ex-Blues defender Matty Brown should both be included in the Halifax squad.
READ: Jim Green's verdict on Chester's 1-0 win at FC Halifax Town in August
