Austin calls on Harborough Town to 'reset and refocus' as they face crucial Hitchin trip

And he is demanding his team 'reset and refocus' ahead of this Saturday's crucial trip to third-from-bottom Hitchin Town in the Pitching-In Southern League Premier Central.

The result followed on from the weekend's 1-1 draw at the Bee Hive against another team currently in the drop zone, Royston, and means Town have managed to pick up just one point from the last nine available to them.

Tuesday's loss was a frustration, especially as Riley O'Sullivan saw his penalty saved with the score at 1-0 to visitors. Stortford then doubled their advantage before an 85th-minute strike from Alex Morris proved to be nothing more than a consolation.

The loss means the Bees are now just one point and two places above the relegation zone.

There may be a lot of excitement around the club ahead of the FA Cup second round trip to Reading on December 1, but Austin's focus is currently on his team's poor league form, and he is calling on his players to up their game.

"I am bitterly disappointed," Austin told @HarbTownFC after the Stortford loss. "I take full responsibility, I picked the team on both occasions and we have not been at it at all.

"You can talk about the cup competitions, but they have got to be sidelined because nobody is doing themselves any favours to be involved in that at the minute.

"We have got one point from these two games against teams in and around us, and that certainly isn't good enough and there are a few questions marks that need answering.

"In the second half we were at it a bit more, and we miss the penalty (at 1-0 down).

"I think if we score that we would go on to win the game with momentum, and we needed to slot that in but unfortunately we have missed it.

"This is a tough league that will punish you if you are not at it, and we haven't been at it for the past two games."

Looking ahead to the clash with Hitchin, who have won just once in eight matches on home soil this season, Austin said: "That is another tough game.

"We are going into these games against teams in and around us, and have maybe got a little too ahead of ourselves.

"We maybe need to reset, refocus, remember what we were good at and do that better, because we are certainly not doing that at the moment."