Halstead Town cannot wait for tomorrow’s Ridgeons League division one trip to Diss.

Jody Brown’s men have spent the whole week dwelling on last Saturday’s shock 3-2 defeat at bottom-of-the-table Swaffham.

It brought them crashing back to earth after the euphoria of beating Ridgeons League heavyweights Lowestoft four days previously in the East Anglian Cup.

Now Town are desperate to get back on track, following their away league defeat for 14 months.

It was also the first time they have lost back-to-back league games under Brown.

The Halstead boss said: “That’s what football’s all about.

“We were really pleased to win at Lowestoft.

“We believed we could knock them out and, against all the odds, managed to do just that.

“Afterwards I did everything possible to ensure there was no complacency and, to be fair, the players knew the score when they ran out at Swaffham.

“That wasn’t the reason we lost because no-one consciously takes their foot off the gas.

“It sounds like an excuse but, in our defence, the conditions were horrendous.

“They were a great leveller but the sad reality is that they adapted better than us.

“That was frustrating and, if we’ve got aspirations of winning the title, we need to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Brown admitted last weekend’s journey home was a horrible one – but gave his players plenty of time to stew on their defeat.

“It was an awful, long trek home, there weren’t any excuses because we’d been beaten by a poor side,” he said.

“We trained on Tuesday but it would have been nice to have a midweek match, something without much pressure like an early Essex Senior Cup or East Anglian Cup tie.

“Instead we’ve had to dwell on what happened last weekend for seven days.

“To be fair, I haven’t said too much – I said all I wanted to say on Saturday.

“I’ve tried to put the whole thing to bed and, instead, it’s been a case of trying to rebuild confidence for tomorrow.”

Skipper Steve Daly is unavailable due of personal commitments while full-back Tom Austin is doubtful because of sickness. His chances are rated at 50-50.

Back in October Halstead lost 3-0 against lowly Hadleigh – then bounced back by beating high-flying Newmarket.

“There was no better opportunity to put the record straight on that occasion and the same applies tomorrow,” added Brown.

“Hopefully we’ll get the same kind of response.”