Chatham Town Women’s interim boss Jesus Cordon is expecting a big response from his players after a heavy loss last Sunday.

Chats were four down at the break away to Oxford United and were never able to recover. They return home to the Bauvill Stadium this Sunday when they host Portsmouth.

The 4-0 defeat at Oxford was a step backwards for the Chats after their point against Billericay Town on the Tuesday before.

Cordon said: “We came 45 minutes late for the game, the first 45 we weren’t there. We were not on it at all, you can see from the goals how we left many gaps, we were not compact. It wasn’t good communication on the pitch and the players recognised it to me, they were not on it at all.

“The teamtalk at half-time was ‘let’s find a way to fix it and get it better for the second half’ and in a way it was a bit better, we didn’t concede any more goals, we created a bit.

“It was very disappointing after a good game against Billericay, but this is football. We have a new week, a new game, a new opportunity this week and we keep working and we go again.

“We can take something from the second half, when we came out the ideas were a bit more clear, we did well, we kept them a bit more quiet. We did concede a penalty but that was down to a mistake, that wasn’t them breaking us down, that was saved.

“It was a bit better but it’s hard to judge, they were 4-0 up, so they didn’t need to push any more. I asked us to try and win the half, get a goal. We didn’t win that, either, we had a couple of chances, it was a bit better but no excuses for the loss.

“We need to fix things, there are many things we can do better. We had a hard week and didn’t have a full training session on Thursday (due to floodlight issues), we could only have half a session, but it is not an excuse.

“We need to stand up again this week, we need a big, big game on Sunday.

“I keep thinking this team can compete against anyone in this league. I still think that, we just need to fix things and get it right, as we did against Billericay. We need that mentality and that energy back.

“We’ve been a bit low on confidence and when it is like that it is a bit harder. We will try and put the heads right again and go again - that’s all we can do.”

Sunday’s game kicks off at 2.30pm.