Long Melford manager Jamie Bradbury not getting worried about relegation from the Thurlow Nunn League Premier Division

While Saturday’s 1-0 home defeat by FC Clacton had Long Melford supporters talking about relegation, manager Jamie Bradbury dismissed suggestions it had been a must-win game, writes Ken Watkins.

The Villagers have had only one win in their last 11 Thurlow Nunn League Premier Division matches to leave them just three places and seven points above the bottom two.

In a tight game, what proved to be the decisive goal arrived in the second half for former AFC Sudbury wide-man Jake Clowsley, who finished from five yards out, to score a debut goal for his new side.

But Bradbury reacted to losing, to the side who had been a place above them at the start of the day, by saying there will be plenty of other chances to get themselves back up the table.

“I don’t think it’s that desperate,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of games still to play, and hopefully we’ll have a lot more players coming back from injury and suspension.

“It was a key game, but I don’t think Clacton will be one of the teams in the relegation battle.

“I don’t think they’re going to be one of the ones down there, and with the results we can pick up over the coming weeks I don’t think we’ll be one of those sides either.”

Five of Melford’s next six league games are against sides in the bottom half of the division, beginning with Saturday’s trip to 14th-placed Whitton United (3pm).

Bradbury had 12 players unavailable for various reasons on Saturday, and Ashley Sloots suffered a broken fibula (calf bone) early in the first half, which did not help Melford’s cause. “I won’t use injuries as an excuse,” said Bradbury. “We are having to reshuffle the pack before and during the game. We are playing players in their right positions, but have to move them around when players come off because of injury.

“It really does hurt you at times, and you can’t make the changes you would like because players are not there.

“It’s been a tough few weeks really, but that’s football. You’ve got to deal with that. We’ve still got good players, and today we should have got something out of the game.

“Games are won and lost on little moments. It was such a tight game today that it was going to be a case of which side could conjure up something. We are creating opportunities and look like we should score, but there’s that little lack of clinical finishing in our play at the minute that stops us taking three points more often.”