Leighton boss Bircham happy to take a point from below par display at Cockfosters

An early goal from the hosts put pressure on an at times lacking Leighton but a Leon Lobjoit penalty in the second-half restored parity.

And Bircham was as honest as ever in his post-match thoughts.

He said: “We didn’t play well. Again, we’ve come away from home, horrible little conditions, and too many haven’t had good games. We can’t keep doing it but at the minute, our hands are tied as we don’t have the options available.

"We have got a lot of players that you’d like to put in the team to change things, not available at the moment.

“That’s a game we could’ve lost, but we’ve come away with a point. I’ll take that all day long because it stops the little rot away from home but again we’ve got crises of confidence and it’s just got to be a little bit better all round.”

Although the buzz words of injuries and absence have been a key determiner in recent weeks, the Leighton manager believed it is truly down to the individuals involved on match day.

He said: “There are no excuses. The boys we had on the pitch today are more than good enough. We get things wrong sometimes, everyone does. We took a goal that was under five minutes I think it was. We’ve responded and come back and drawn one all.

"Fair play to Leon, it was a pressure penalty and he stuck it away. It’s just a bad day at the office again, if you like. Away from home, it’s got to be better.”

Another aspect of the draw was seemingly a further understanding of club identity. In the same breath, Bircham praised Leighton’s opposition.

He said: “You’ve got to give other teams credit. No one’s ever come from our side of things and thought we’re Barcelona. That never comes from us. We know what we are, we’ve got some good players. It’s just a case that sometimes other teams play well against you.

“A few aren’t here today, not through injury, which is a good thing. There’s others that we just need to get right. We could have two or three back for Tuesday, then we’ll train Thursday and then have the Vase on Saturday. Luckily, we’ve got the numbers. It just needs tweaking; it just needs the boys to change their mentalities.

“When they come to these places, they’ve got to win the battles first not after the damage has been done. We’ve just got to play non-league sometimes and as much as I don’t want to do it, or they don’t want to do it, we are going to have to be a little bit more non-league.”​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Leighton host Arlesey Town in the Premier Division Cup on Tuesday night before going to Shefford & Campton in the FA Vase on Saturday.