FRUSTRATED at watching his side drop well below their usual standards, Sedgley Park head coach Geoff Roberts is looking for a response this weekend.

The Tigers were defeated 26-5 at home to Hinckley in League Two North and, while Roberts is taking a pragmatic view of their off-day, he wants his players to return to the level of play that has served them so well this term.

“It was so disappointing on Saturday,” he said. “To be honest, underneath it all is the fact we just under-estimated Hinckley. Hats off to them, they are a decent outfit and we didn’t have our mental preparation right.

“I’m not decrying them, they had the edge in all departments. You always have your off days and just hope you get away with it.

“But we had a horribly flat day and we came unstuck.”

It was difficult for Roberts to take positives from the encounter, with the players’ decision-making, lack of pressuring the ball and errors culminating in Sedgley’s first defeat in seven games.

Max Scofic’s unconverted try was the one time they troubled the scorers and the coach was reluctant to point to a period where two players had been yellow-carded as an excuse.

“That is where we are in the game now, officials are clamping down on any vaguely-high tackles,” he said ahead of the Tigers’ match at Tynedale this weekend. “It was just that our focus was wrong. I have got to hope losing that game will wake us up and we can re-assess everything. Tynedale will be a difficult game, we drew with them at home so we know it is a tough day out.

“Maybe last week’s disaster will switch us on again.”