SWINDON Supermarine manager Dave Webb has called for his troops for rediscover their stubborn resistance at the back as they seek to get back to winning ways.

Marine kept four clean sheets in their opening 10 games of the season but have not recorded a shut-out since mid-September and have shipped goals with worrying alarm in their last two matches.

National League side Welling ran Marine ragged en route to knocking them out of the FA Cup in a 7-1 thrashing last Saturday, while the goals conceded tally went to 10 in two games on Wednesday night as Webb’s men exited the Southern League Challenge Cup in a 3-1 loss at Kidlington.

Marine face a third cup game in a row tomorrow when they travel to league rivals Slimbridge in the FA Trophy and Webb knows another porous performance in defence will spell disaster for his side.

“On reflection of last Saturday, we let ourselves down,” said Webb.

“We came up against a good side but we have to look at it and say that’s not normal for us. We are normally very resolute and hard to beat, and we weren’t last Saturday.

“We have conceded a lot of goals and that’s the first thing we have to look at, and try to figure out how to stop that.

“We have got a young team and we have done well this season, and have probably already proved a few people wrong.

“It doesn’t matter if you are 20 or 35; when you lose a game, it hurts, but we have to win the next game. We can’t feel sorry for ourselves.

“The players have to look at it and think how they are going to put it right.”

Marine have already travelled to Slimbridge’s Thornhill Park home this season but the two sides could not be separated in a 1-1 draw in Division One South & West.

“It isn’t an easy game by any means. They are a tough side,” said Webb.

“We have been there already and we scraped a 1-1 draw, and we weren’t at our best that day. We will need to be on Saturday otherwise we will get beaten and go out of a competition that we are desperate to do well in.

“We want to win as many games as we can. We won three games in the FA Cup and ended up playing a very good team in Welling, so we want to try to do the same again in the Trophy now.”

Defender Ash Taylor will be assessed before the game but it is thought that it is a week too soon for him to return to action from a hamstring injury.