‘It just didn’t feel like our day’ - Banbury boss

​The result came just four days after another long trip to the same county had seen Banbury win 5-2 at struggling Lowestoft Town, with Leiston far less generous in their hospitality when it came to the football.

And Hollyhead told Puritans Radio post-match that it was a disappointing outcome.

He said: “Obviously with a scoreline like that you can sense the disappointment in the dressing room, especially given the run we’ve been on and the rhythm and flow with which we’ve been playing during the last eight games.

"Today just didn’t feel like our day. Little things went against us, some key decisions went against us all over the pitch, our first touch wasn’t quite there and defensively at times were were a little bit slow to react.

"So this is a bit of kick up the backside but not for the want of trying. It’s easy to say that the extra 800 miles we’ve done during the last four days and 15 hours of travelling is different to what they’ve had this week with no midweek game, but we prepared really well for this game with a real intention to get something out of it, and for large parts of the game and before they scored it felt like we had some really good situations.”

Banbury, who still require four points to be mathematically certain of safety – albeit it would take an almost impossible scenario to see them even dragged close to the relegation zone – now prepare to host a side who very much have everything to play for as they play AFC Telford United on Saturday.

The Bucks are two points behind leaders Bedford with four games to play, meaning a big Shropshire following are expected to converge on Banbury for the game.

Hollyhead said: “We’re keen to put the Leiston game behind us and have a really good game on Saturday. We’re so grateful to the fans who made these two trips this week and together we are significantly stronger, so we want to put on a performance.”