Needham Market boss Kevin Horlock believes performance against Scunthorpe United shows side can compete in Vanarama National League North

Needham Market boss Kevin Horlock believes his side have done enough to show that they can compete in the Vanarama National League North following their 1-0 defeat at home to promotion-favourites Scunthorpe United on Tuesday night.

The Marketmen, having defended resolutely all night, were undone by an 84th-minute penalty that Danny Whitehall tucked away to leave the the Ecologic Stadium Bloomfields outfit without a point after three games. This followed their 2-1 defeat at home to Southport on Saturday – in which Needham took the lead through Kyle Hammond’s curling effort but an uncharacteristic mistake from goalkeeper Marcus Garnham left Horlock’s side empty handed.

Horlock, who is uncertain if Scunthorpe should have been awarded the spot kick, does not want people to feel sorry for his side.

“I thought the lads performed excellently against, let’s be realistic, a Scunthorpe team that, in my opinion, will probably win the division,” he said.

“The lads were magnificent to a man. I thought we defended stoutly and created a few chances, which on another day we probably score,” said Horlock.

“I don’t want it to be, and already it’s feeling that way, ‘unlucky old Needham’. It’s not about that, it’s about us improving, getting better and finding our feet at this level.

“We’ve done that game on game, I think we’ve improved and it’s been a tough start for us, there’s no doubt about it.

“There’s no point moping about, we’re not going to be down about it, our performance levels have increased and we’re getting better. We’re getting used to this division.”

Horlock admitted he does not like to make changes to his side but he might be forced to do so with two games in three days this weekend. Needham travel to winless Radcliffe on Saturday (3pm) before the visit of Alfreton Town on Monday (3pm).

“I know it’s early days, but (Saturday is a bit of a) six-pointer,” he said. “They’re down there near the bottom with us. You want to get your first points as early as you can as games start ticking by.”

While Tuesday ended in disappointment, a crowd of 925 came to watch Needham take on Scunthorpe, which shows just how far the Marketmen have come.

“It’s unbelievable. You’ve got to be realistic and remember we are Needham Market. We’re ultimately a village club and we’ve done unbelievably well,” said Horlock.

“It was a spectacle, I looked out across and thought ‘wow this is unbelievable to be a part of’, but we don’t want to be a part of a season in the National League North, we want to compete. I think we’ve shown we can compete, although we’ve not shown it with points yet.”