Few positives for Hatters following Hyde debacle

A meek second half showing saw the Hatters succumb to struggling Hyde and Still found it hard to see the positives,

He said: “Jake Howells and Alex Lawless, when he was on, have been our pluses for a couple of games, they’ve been pluses.

“Alex Wall first half, I thought was a plus. I thought that Dan Walker when he came on looked quite bright as well.

“He came on at a difficult time but looked quite bright as well. That’s it.”

However, Lawless was forced off in the first half as Still explained: “A slight hamstring problem, we hope it’s not a pull. It may have just been a little niggle but it was important he came off and not make it any worse.”

On the match itself, he continued: “A poor performance tonight. I though first half we were not terrible, not great, not terrible.

“Better than we were the first half Saturday, but second half we were very, very poor.”

But he was at a loss to explain why, saying: “To be honest I don’t know, I wish I did know.

“I have to find what the players are capable of and if someone is not capable of something I can shout ‘til I’m blue in the face. I don’t know them yet.

“I know bits of them, I don’t really know them yet. I’m getting to know them and as I get to know them then I’ll know their capabilities and then I’ll know if they’re capable to do the job I want.

“But that’s what I’m finding out. Unless it’s something that’s absolutely ridiculous, then I think shouting at them and bawling at the moment isn’t the thing to do.

“I think when you have something to say it has to be constructive and I like to be constructive. I can be loud, I like to be loud.

“I keep saying there’s not a magic wand. If there was a magic wand everyone would be a manager. I’m a very, very experienced manager, I’m a very knowledgeable manager and I’ve been a very successful manager.

“So I understand all of the highs and lows and all of the reasons why and why not. I came here to rebuild the football club in the best way possible and that’s still an ongoing process.”

Still gathered the players in a huddle long after the final whistle on Tuesday, but explained there was nothing unusual in it.

He said: “The subs had gone straight in and they shouldn’t. I wanted to wait for everybody to come out. In the end I got on with it as they came out.

“That’s them not being fully aware of what they should do after games. It wouldn’t have been that long, it’s just how it was today.”

Striker Stuart Fleetwood again missed out and Still admitted he is a concern, saying: “He has got a slight hernia problem that we are getting him to see a specialist on and we’ll have a better diagnosis on that probably by the end of the week.”

The first half injury to Lawless also meant that Town had to change their plans as striker Alex Wall, who was starting his first game for the club, had to play the whole match.

Still said: “Alex Wall we didn’t intend to play 90 minutes, but because of an injury to Alex Lawless it sort of changed some of the things we would have done.

“That was going to be a 60-minute situation today, but he had to play 90. He’s still coming to terms with training every day, he’s finding it a bit tough.

“I thought first half he looked very strong, looked very good. Just build his fitness levels up and I think we’ll see a decent player there.”

He was also pleased he’s got the chance to see JJ O’Donnell in a first team game after impressing in training - even if the youngster failed to shine on the night.

Still added: “I wanted to see JJ, he’s got great energy in training, I like his quality with the ball, I just wanted to see how he was in a game.

“I hadn’t seen him in a first team game so it was important that I did that when I could and I thought today was a good opportunity.

“And JJ in training had shown me enough in training that he deserved an opportunity to show me in a first team game.”