Assistant manager Lloyd Blackman believes Ashford United are showing “a soft underbelly” which is producing serious cause for concern at Homelands.

United’s run of matches without a win is now seven following last Saturday’s 3-2 defeat at Cray Valley PM in Southern Counties East and Blackman said: “We’re not performing as a group and that’s something we’ve got to be bold and frank about.

“As a unit, we need to get closer together and make sure we are lot tougher to beat because at the moment we are showing a little bit of a soft underbelly, which is alarming.”

The three goals United let in at Eltham meant they have now conceded 13 in their last five matches, with Blackman adding: “We have had to reshuffle the back line a lot in the last few weeks and that’s probably reflected in the amount of goals we’ve been shipping.”

United had planned to give a debut to 18-year-old Hythe Town defender Lee Pleau at Cray Valley on dual registration forms but Town manager Tim Dixon recalled the centre-half at the last minute for their match at Walton & Hersham.

Blackman said: “With Lee’s height we might have dealt better with some of the high balls that Cray threw at us but Hythe called him back at the 11th hour and we don’t know yet whether he will be available for us this weekend.

“It has been a little disappointing on the player front because the people we’ve wanted to bring in haven’t been keen on moving and it’s putting extra stress on the players we have got because they aren’t really performing.”

United are at home on Saturday to a Rochester United side who have eased their relegation worries by winning their last two league games, while Ashford, who should be at full-strength injury-wise, will be desperate to ensure that the 10-point gap between themselves and leaders Erith & Belvedere doesn’t grow any bigger.