JOINT managers Liam McConnell and Robbie Lakeman are urging their Laverstock and Ford charges to put their woeful run of form behind them in their quest to seal promotion.

Luckless Lavvy were consigned to a fifth straight defeat in Division One on Tuesday night, losing 4-1 at home to Alton.

Within 10 minutes, they were 2-0 down.

An own goal halved the deficit after the break but two further strikes left Lavvy soundly beaten.

They remain in third place, the last promotion spot, two points ahead of in-form Shaftesbury with five games left.

“The lads are distraught, putting a finger on the problem is the issue,” said McConnell and Lakeman.

“We’ve had the smallest of all the squads in the league all season and have performed well when shuffling the pack, so there’s no difference there. It seems, as a group, the boys are buying into the game plan but stepping over that white line and performing to the levels they previously set and that we expect is what’s slowly eating away at us.

“The lads are so focused on stopping the rot and togetherness is the key. They all need to believe and quickly remind themselves of what they are capable of.”

In the Premier Division, Amesbury Town were beaten 2-0 by high-flying Portland United, with goals from Edward Bastick and Jamie Beasley. Blues have earned one point in 10 games.