ADIE Mings says complacency and a lack of application let his Chippenham Town side down in their defeat to Clevedon Town on Tuesday.

The Bluebirds saw their unbeaten start to the year in the Southern League disappear and Mings conceded the result was a fair one.

He said: “Man-to-man we didn’t win our individual battles. I think a few players turned up thinking it was going to be an easy night’s work.

“I thought we were quite poor on the night and only got our game going for 15 or 20 minutes after we scored the (first) goal.

“The pitch was a bit of a quagmire and it never allowed us to play passing football.

“It was a real leveller but take nothing away from Clevedon, they were the better side on the night.

“If you’ve got aspirations of doing well in any league then you’ve got to adapt.

“We didn’t apply ourselves and if you do that you can come unstuck.”

But in the light of Chippenham’s recent good form, Mings said he would not go overboard with his criticism.

“You can’t go beating the players up too much,” he said.

Chippenham host Gloucester City tomorrow and while Mings is wary of the Tigers’ threat, he remains confident of a revitalised performance from his side.

He said: “They have got two good strikers up front, Alex Sykes poses a goal threat, and in wide areas they’ve got two very good wing backs.

“But when we play the top sides it normally brings the best out of us.”

Luke Gullick (hamstring) and Iain Harvey (foot) are both out of tomorrow’s game.

Meanwhile, Mings has also revealed he was looking to fast-track a deal to bring in a midfielder on loan .

The Hardenhuish boss is conscious that with Ashley Williams and Kye Holly facing imminent suspensions and Iain Harvey struggling with injury, he could be left short in the midfield area if he does not move quickly.