Sam Denly admits Hythe Town have a problem on 3G pitches.

The Cannons were beaten by Sevenoaks last weekend on their artificial surface at the Bourne Stadium.

Hythe have lost three of their eight matches in Bostik South East this season and there’s a common thread.

Denly said: “When I got the job, Hythe’s home form was excellent and their away form not so good and it’s proving to be the case this season as well.

“The four defeats we’ve had since I’ve been here as manager have all been on plastic pitches.

“We lost to Carshalton last year, Ashford this season, Cray and now Sevenoaks. Read into that what you will.

“It’s certainly an advantage to the home team, playing on it week in, week out and it’s difficult because you have to adapt the way you play on them.

“For whatever reason, we’re not doing that and it’s something we need to work on.

“When we do find ourselves on those plastic pitches, we’re not getting the best out of the lads.

“Maybe we need to change our style and patterns of play. We’ll have a conversation as a management team and we’ll work on things with the boys to try to rectify that.”

Hythe have conceded 10 goals in their last three games and their defensive record worries Denly. He said: “We’ll work on things this week but we aren’t good enough at the back at the moment.

“That’s not just the back four and the keeper, we’ve got to defend from the front.

“We’ve got to be harder to break down and do the uglier side of football better.

“It is a concern because it’s far too many goals to be shipping in.

“It’s something we’ve got to improve because if we don’t, we’re not going to be where we want to be come the end of the season.

“If players want to keep their shirt, they’ve got to perform consistently from one week to the next and that record isn’t good enough.

“If we have to change things internally or bring players in, we’ll do that.”

Denly hopes to have Jack Sammoutis (hamstring) back for Saturday’s home game against VCD Athletic.

Leading the line for the visitors will be former Brentford and Gravesend & Northfleet striker Charlie MacDonald.

Denly said: “He’s a good player and he’s probably looking forward to playing us with the amount of goals we’re shipping at the moment.

“I know a lot about Charlie, he’s a good lad and we’ll have our wits about us concerning him. VCD are going well and we know it’s going to be a difficult game.”