We have now only picked up one point from five home matches to date, in stark contrast to an impressive eight points won from a possible 12 away.
"We looked a bit desperate as the second-half wore on against Casuals but I must stick up for my lads," said Massey. "Our overall performance was a marked improvement from the 3-0 defeat to Hythe Town, but the boys need to start thinking smarter on the pitch.”
His train of thought includes the squad needing to start “turning losses into draws and draws into wins if we are to start putting a run of positive results together".
“Its key we start to find some consistency,” he added. “Half that team on Tuesday was under 20 years of age but I don’t use that as an excuse. It’s just becoming clearer that we need to further instill certain ‘game knowledge’ into those boys.
Massey also addressed a concern that his squad lacks a proven goalscorer after he saw his side fail to register for a third straight game. He handed a debut to Cecil Jee Thomas on Tuesday, a striker who has spent time at Crawley Town and more recently Tooting and Mitcham United.
“Cecil has looked good in training and he did ok against Casuals but he lacks match fitness,” Massey mused. “Personally I feel the likes of Tommy Bradford and Kingsley need to get one off their knee or backside, just to get their confidence in front of goal going again. All my strikers have had good opportunities blocked or saved since the opening day, so a little bit of luck wouldn't go amiss!"
“But, having said that, we currently don’t seem to have someone who looks like they could guarantee us 15-20 goals this season,” he said. “It’s an issue near the top of my list and I hope to bring someone of that description in within a week or two.”
We travel to Redhill this Saturday for an FA Cup first qualifying round tie and Massey is prepared for the challenge.
“I’ve seen Redhill play twice recently and had them watched again on Tuesday," he said. "A run in this competition, as well as the financial benefit for the club, helps keep the squad’s spirits up, which can then be transferred into league performances, so I’ll make sure we are up for it.”
Redhill, by a twist of fixture scheduling fate, are due to visit us the following Tuesday for a league encounter – but this may turn into a cup replay if Saturday’s affair ends in a draw.
“Let's hope we have them here in the league on Tuesday after beating them at theirs in the cup,” smiled Massey. “That scenario would give us an extra mental boost and potentially help us to record our first home win of the season.”
For all of the details on the club go to: www.pitchero.com/clubs/carshaltonafc/
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