Chipstead boss Nick English has told his players to get serious after Saturday's defeat at Sittingbourne was their third in four league games.

Despite controlling the first half, the Chips failed to score and were punished by two break-away goals in the last 20 minutes, leaving English fuming at the attitude of his players.

He said: "There are three or four of the players who are leading the changing room, making things good and fun and exciting but it's never a good place to be when you lose. I like a laugh and a giggle but you have got to know when to be serious.

"They believe they are safe in the league and they haven't taken the chance to get them into the play-offs.

"I honestly felt at half time at Sittingbourne we were streets in front of them and we had had all the possession, but we are not penetrating in the final third.

"But they don't seem bothered about it. They have got themselves in a position where they think they are in the safe zone."

English highlighted a miss by striker Scott Simpson just before Sittingbourne's first goal as the turning point in the game.

He said: "Scott was through one on one and makes the wrong decision. He lost the ball and our heads went down. If we had gone 1-0 up we would have gone on to win 3-0."

English pinpointed last night's game at home to play-off chasers Kingstonian as a game they needed to get something from, but admitted he was unable to make too many changes.

He said: "At the moment I have got a master class of players and there is a gap between them and the boys that could come in so at the moment it ties my hands a little bit.

"Kingstonian is going to be difficult but we should have won the Sittingbourne game and then we could have gone in to it with a different attitude."