Tommy Warrilow says Ashford’s blip will separate the men from the boys.

The Nuts & Bolts blew a two-goal lead for the second match running against Haywards Heath and manager Warrilow has warned it has to stop.

It cost them two points against Lancing the previous week and on Saturday they lost their unbeaten home record to Haywards Heath.

Warrilow’s side were in charge after goals from Josh Wisson and Johan ter Horst but imploded as Isthmian South East promotion rivals Heath won 3-2.

They’ve fallen seven points behind leaders Hastings, albeit with a game in hand, and want to put things right at fellow contenders Herne Bay this Saturday.

“It’s so frustrating,” said Warrilow, whose side have won twice in seven games since their perfect November.

“I can’t even say it was down to individual mistakes.

“We just seemed to lose our shape, they got the bit between their teeth at 2-0 down with nothing to lose and we sat deep and invited them on to us and they’ve scored three in the last 20 minutes.

“Every team has a bad patch and we seem to going through ours now.

“We’re throwing away good positions and it’s got to stop.

“It’s not rocket science, it’s simple things like marking, but we’ve got to act on it, we can’t keep talking about it.

“This is where we’ve got to show our mettle. Life’s not easy, things go wrong and it’s my job to make sure we amend that.

“This separates the men from the boys but we’re still up there and there’s still a lot of points to play for.

“You can look at it and say we’ve only lost one in four but we can't keep going 2-0 up and throwing it away.

“I was fuming after the game on Saturday.

“I didn’t want to overreact and start shouting and hollering but we do need some constructive criticism in there and whatever we did wrong, we must learn from it.

“We didn’t defend properly and we didn’t organise properly and what hurts the most is all my teams know their jobs with and without the ball.

“But once the first goal goes in we go into panic mode and the inevitable happens.

“It’s all right sitting deeper and deeper if they’ve got nothing to pass to and you can frustrate them but on the day they could pass to whoever they wanted because we weren’t picking players up.

“We can’t fall back on excuses and say it’s a mental thing. If we do that, are we saying that every time we go 2-0 up we think we’re going to lose?

"You can’t think like that. You have to manage games sensibly and try and get a third goal without being silly.”

Goalkeeper Jordan Carey returned against Haywards Heath five months after suffering a triple elbow fracture.

He came in for Tyler McCarthy, who has subsequently left the club.

Utility man Jarred Trespaderne made his debut after joining from Hythe and there was a first start for Frannie Collin.

Warrilow needed to strengthen after being hit by injuries to the likes of Tommie Fagg, Rhyle Ovenden, Bradley Simms and Tariq Ossai.

“We’ve brought three lads in since January but we’ve still got four out,” said Warrilow.

“You bring one in and lose one, I feel like I’m picking up a bucket with a hole in it.

“I’m not making excuses - that’s not why we lost on Saturday - but it will help massively if we get the injured boys back. Our squad will look really strong.

“We just need to get a win and build again. Expectations are high here but I’ve said to the players that’s why you join a club like this.

“We want to go up and up again and we want the club to grow off the pitch.”