WITTON Albion’s hopes of a run in the FA Trophy require them to initially turn around a result of two weeks ago.

Jon Macken’s men head to Runcorn Linnets in the first qualifying round on Saturday, returning to the scene of their 4-2 loss in Northern Premier League West.

And since then they have bowed out of the FA Cup at the hands of higher division Lancaster City, to the dismay of manager Macken.

“It was a better performance at Lancaster but I’m not happy with the defeat, no way,” said Macken, who admitted he was in an emotional state after Saturday’s 2-1 defeat.

“We’ve lost our last two games and it’s unacceptable.

“I’ve got to be careful because I’m a bit emotional at the minute because we’ve just been knocked out of the FA Cup which means a lot – and it should mean a lot.

“I’m not convinced that we deserved to lose the game.

“I think we looked very hesitant, that we were just there to get beat in the first 20 to 25 minutes, but we got ourselves back in the game and started believing that we’re a good team and then bang – the second goal is a disgrace. We had five men around the ball and you’ve got to stop that.

“Some of the things are just not on. We can mask it sometimes when we play some good football, which we did. And did we match them? Yes, absolutely. Should we have got something out of the game? Yes, probably, but we didn’t and we’re out of the cup.

“And I’m a bit disappointed and I’m a bit emotional because I wanted to do well in it. I wanted to give this club what it deserves and try to give it a good cup run.”

Macken wants his players to cut down on their error rates.

“It always seems to us that we cause crucial mistakes that teams punish us for every single time.

“We can’t work like that. As soon as an individual does that, all your preparation and all of your plans have gone – you’ve got to think of something else. It’s disappointing and I’m frustrated.”

Witton are scheduled to return to league action on Tuesday at home to Hednesford Town, kick-off 7.45pm.