Manager Neil Aspin has said he is well aware that his side need to be better after recent performances, but there are positives to build on.

The Valiants drew a blank at the weekend to Morecambe, and have failed to register a win in 2018, something the manager is keen to amend this Saturday.

"Of course you want to be winning games, I'm not going to sit here and make excuses, our job is to try and win matches and I accept that. Some of the performances have been better than others."

"In a run where we've not played at our best, we've lost by the odd goal in the games that we've lost, and we've fought back in positions where we are losing".

"I'm well aware we need to be better, but you can take some positives from certainly the second half of the Colchester game and the second half on Saturday." Neil added.

Neil Aspin opted to hand loanee Charlie Raglan his debut on Saturday. The manager brought in three new defenders in the final week of the transfer window, and chose Charlie to pair up with Nathan Smith at the weekend.

The duo kept a clean sheet, something the Valiants have failed to do since the incredible 4-0 win over Luton back in December, and the gaffer was impressed with his debutants performance.

"If the club is going to progress, they'll need to sign players of a calibre that's going to be able to get them out of this league and to push."

"Charlie's played at a good level and he's proved he can play in the league higher than this, you want to give people a chance and I will, but experience is probably going to win over at the moment and we need experienced heads because we're in a difficult time."

"Even though we've got a couple of new faces, it won't be the time to throw everyone in but with Charlie, the only question mark against him was he hasn't played a lot of football this season, not about his quality."

Neil has also confirmed new signings Callum Howe and Kyle Howkins will feature in tomorrow's reserve game against Mansfield.