St Albans City joint manager James Gray made no excuses for his side after their poor performance in Saturday’s 3-1 loss to Wealdstone.

The Stones’ 36-year-old striker Jefferson Louis was the difference between the teams as he scored two of his sides’ goals and set up the other.

John Frendo pulled a goal back for St Albans - his first goal in seven weeks - but it was another case of what could have been as chances came and went without testing Wealdstone goalkeeper Luke Chambers to the fullest extent.

Speaking after the game, Gray said: “We weren’t good enough, there’s no two ways about it. I’m not going to make excuses for the boys - they weren’t good enough and we’ve paid the full price.

“We had the worse start possible again. It was a cheap goal to give away - all three goals were cheap. We’re lacking a killer instinct. Too many times we get the ball in good areas and we need people to put the ball away for us and it’s not happening on a regular enough basis.”

He added: “Jefferson Louis was too hot for us and he was the big difference between the two sides with the experience he’s got.”

The loss took City’s haul over the last 13 games to 10 points. The squad is going through a tough time, admitted Gray.

He is optimistic, though, that his side can complete the double over Concord Rangers on Saturday.

“We’re in a bad run at the minute. We can’t get a win, we can’t keep clean sheets and it’s tough to take,” he said.

“We have no fear going into the Concord game but they don’t get beat very often at their place. It’s a tough place to get a result. “We need to be brighter and dig in a lot more. As managers, I don’t think we’ve had a run as bad as this since we took over. We need to learn from this loss, look at ourselves and put it right.”

Saturday’s game at Concord Rangers kicks off at 3pm.