James Akintunde says that he and his Chester FC teammates cannot use a tiredness from their away travels as an excuse for Saturday's 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Dagenham & Redbridge .
Striker Akintunde was one of very few Blues players to emerge from the thrashing against the Daggers with any credit after a particularly strong first half.
Chester gave as good as they got in the opening 45 minutes but they made a worrying collapse in the second half to fall to defeat that further exacerbate their relegation worries as they battle at the wrong end of the National League.
The Blues had taken in away trips to Bromley and Leyton Orient in the seven days leading up to the game and didn't return home from their 2-2 draw with the O's until 8.15am the next day after traffic on the M1 caused severe delays. But that isn't a good enough excuse for what was dished up on Saturday, according to the 21-year-old.
"We've got quite a few injuries and a lot of players have been playing quite lot, and long journeys don't help, but we can't use that as an excuse," he said.
"We have got to make things right. We have got Solihull in two weeks and we have got a few games in December where hopefully we can pick up a few points.
"From the first half (against Dagenham) and from games previously you can see that we do play well. Right now we need to get ourselves together and work harder."
Akintunde, who signed for the Blues in the summer of 2016, has been one of few bright spots in an otherwise gloomy season so far and has found himself a key member of the first team squad.
And he feels like he is benefiting working under manager Marcus Bignot.
"The gaffer, I feel like he has got a lot of faith in me - he lets me play with a free mind," he said.
