Frickley Athletic manager Dave Frecklington wants to see more fight in his players

Frickley Athletic manager Dave Frecklington accused his team of throwing in the towel when they went behind against Lincoln United.

The Blues were given the boost of an opening goal when Devonte Morton struck after 11 minutes, but the lead lasted only two minutes with Matt Cotton putting away a penalty for Lincoln.

It stayed 1-1 to the break, but the visitors ran away with the game in the second half with Cotton going on to bag a hat-trick and Max Baker netting.

The result left Frickley right in the relegation dogfight, just one point above Bridlington Town and Lincoln and three ahead of second from bottom Sheffield FC with three matches left to play, including an away game at Tadcaster Albion on Saturday and a home derby with Pontefract Collieries on Monday afternoon.

“It was embarrasing,” said manager Frecklington. "No heart, no passion, no desire, no togetherness, no spirit, no leaders.

“The scariest thing was the fight. We’ve always seen a team that works hard and fights, but at 2-1 they just threw the towel in.

"I’ve had 10 consecutive years as a manager and that’s the worst half I’ve had from any team in terms of not competing and seeing players not take responsibility and being really poor in possession of the ball. It was an absolute car crash.

"I never saw that coming. I can only apologise on behalf of everyone for the performance. Everyone should have a refund."

Frecklington has promised supporters that he will be doing his best to get the message through to the players about what is required now.

He added: “If we had won we would probably have been safe, but we’ve given them a lift. We’ve got three tough games left now and we’re bang in it.

“We’ll work hard again this week and it’s now down to the players. Let’s see who’s got the big cojones to stand up over the bank holiday period.

“Let’s see if we get a response off the players, do they care enough? Do they want it enough? We’ve had a real open discussion and they know fully what position we’re in now.

"This week we'll be focusing on making the players understand what's really needed.

"Hopefully they go back and look themselves in the mirror and come back fighting, if they have got any in them.

"We just need that win and then hopefully we'll be okay. But it's bite your nails time.

"We owe the supporters a performance. We need to regroup, stick our chest out and go again."