VICE-CHAIRMAN Paul Oakes cannot put his finger on the reason why Fairfield Villa are now winless in their last three Midland League Division Two games following the 1-1 draw at home to Sutton United last weekend.
After suffering back-to-back defeats prior to Saturday’s game at the Recreation Ground, Villa look set for a hat-trick of losses as George Ford fired United into a 1-0 half-time lead.
Villa keeper Chris Mole proved to be the star of the show as numerous saves prevented the visitors from pulling further ahead while Dan Wilkes and Connor Collins saw efforts cannon off the woodwork.
As the game petered out skipper Scott Smith ensured the hosts came away with a point as he showed great technique to control the ball with his chest from a corner before smashing home.
Oakes said: “We are going through a bit of a sticky patch at the moment and we need to get out of it.
“Player unavailability springs to mind as Joe Brookes has got family commitments now and our experienced centre half Ben Smith is out through injury.
“All sides have a bit of a rough period but I can’t put my finger on why we are not playing at levels prior to our poor run.
“Scott has showed great technique to get the equaliser but in our opinion it was definitely two points dropped and not one point gained.”
Oakes is hoping Villa can return to winning ways this Saturday (3pm KO) when they travel to second-from-bottom Hampton.
The previous meeting between the two sides saw Villa run out 3-1 winners in December last year but Oakes admitted things will not be so easy this time around.
“Hampton is a fixture that when you are winning you can take it in your stride but we are going to have to work hard to get out this winless run,” he added.
“It’s important we stop the rot – we are too good of a side to keep this poor run going.
“This is a game we should be looking to win if we want to maintain our hopes of a top four finish.
“If we are not careful, the likes of Redditch Borough or Coton Green could pip us to the post.”
