Joint boss Dave Hewson admitted there is a lot of work to be done by Workington Reds approaching the halfway point of the season.

Having climbed to within a point of the play-offs with four successive victories, two defeats on the spin have put a brake on progress.

Saturday’s 2-0 home defeat by Hednesford followed a 5-0 mauling seven days earlier at Stourbridge.

Hewson said: “The goals we are conceding are just awful, especially when they come at the start of a game.

"So much attention is paid to how we begin matches, yet for the second league game in a row, we have had a nightmare.

“The other disappointing feature was how we couldn’t do better on the amount of possession we had in the second half.

"There just seemed to be a lack of desire to get to the ball."

“It means we have a lot of work to do to put things right but we will do that," he added.

"There are lads champing at the bit for a chance and they will get the opportunity.

“We went on a great run to carry us right into play-off contention and we are still there. It is up to us to find that spark again.”

Reds are now ninth, four points off the last play-off place and on Saturday have another home game in which to start turning things round.

They host, for the first time, league newcomers Coalville Town, who are currently six points behind the Reds from the same number of games.

But they will come to Borough Park on the back of one of their best results of the season, a 3-1 home win over Nantwich Town.

Meanwhile, Workington are still waiting for an injury update on defender Sam Smith who has been for an X-ray on a damaged ankle.

That proved to be inconclusive as to whether there’s a cracked bone or there is some ligament damage.