Ford has to find a solution to United's defensive fragility

Banbury United skipper Andy Gunn and Bishops Cleeve's Kirk Layton go for a header during Saturday's FA Trophy tie

Banbury United boss Mike Ford says he has to find a solution to his team being unable to keep clean sheets.

The Puritans exited the Buildbase FA Trophy at the first hurdle on Saturday, losing 1-0 at the hands of Bishops Cleeve. And Ford hinted there could be changes for Tuesday’s Evo-Stik Southern League trip to St Neots Town.

Ford said: “I can’t keep making excuses for us not winning games, we don’t seem to be able to kill teams off at the moment.

“Frome, St Ives and Bishops Cleeve have all had very few shots on our goal but we’ve not won those games because we just can’t keep a clean sheet.

“We try to put in place things in place that we want to do but at some point the players have got to stand up and start defending set-pieces. As a group, we’ve got to make sure we are more difficult to beat.

“We’re a well organised, football side but we’ve to remember it’s about keeping clean sheets and we’re not able to do that at the moment. I need to find a solution to keeping a clean sheet, so one or two players need to be looking over their shoulders.”