New Carshalton Athletic boss Francis Vines has placed his players on high alert after warning they will face the chop if they don’t shape up fast.

The former Basingstoke Town, Crawley Town and Farnborough chief took charge last week in the wake of Hayden Bird’s departure and oversaw the side’s 2-1 FA Cup qualifying round exit at the hands of Whitstable on Saturday.

It means the Robins have gone four games without a win sionc emaking a flying start to the new Ryman League Premier Division campaign under the previous manager, who quit the club earlier this month citing off-field problems.

Vines has already identified a leaky defence and a shortage of goals as they key problems he must rectiofy sooner rather than later, but is likely to have less rather than more funds to do that.

And having been told he will have to ship some players out before he can bring presonnel in, Vines has warned the current squad they need to improve fast to hold on to their place.

“We let in 14 goals in eight games. That is far too many for me and if these guys can’t stop them going in we’ll have to get in people who can,” he said.

“We’ve scored 13 goals at the other end and most of them have been scored by our front two. It is all very well having great strikers, but if they don’t score you need someone else to get on the score sheet. Something is not quite right somewhere.

“The budget might change, but not in a positive way. I’m gonig to need to shuffle things around. If people don’t perform some more will come in and some will go, until we get it right.”

Vines has a Ryman League Premier Division baptism of fire this weekend when his side travels to table topping Dartford, who are yet to lose this season and have scored 23 goals - making them the division’s leading scorers by some margin.

He will be without the suspended Charlie Ide but the former Robins, Sutton United and Kingstonian player admits he is looking foward to the challenge.

“It is strange to be back as manager. I’ve played for virtually all the local clubs, but it is here where I would say I had the greatest time,” he added.

“I took the job straight away once it was offered. I’m looking forward to the first home game to catch up with some familiar faces. It is a challenge, but it is a good one.”

Carshalton’s next three fixtures: Sept 19 Dartford (h), 22 Boreham Wood (a), Oct 3 AFC Hornchurch (h).