Hampton & Richmond Borough coach Dudley Gardner has warned his players they are playing for their Beveree futures over the next six games.

The Beavers crashed 4-1 at home to high-flying Dover Athletic on Tuesday night to make it three straight defeats since a win by the same score over Eastleigh.

That triumph meant Hampton are all-but safe from the Blue Square South drop - a stark contrast to the previous two campaigns which ended in play-off final appearances.

Boss Alan Devonshire, who was sent to the stands in Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at Chelmsford City, has blooded a host of new faces in the wake of budget cut backs at Station Road, with varying degrees of success.

Gardner conceded some of the new guard could be cut adrift, and warned Hampton’s more established stars should be just as concerned over the chop when it comes to the summer.

“Some of the performances this year have just not been up to the required standard. There has been a lot of turmoil, but players have to get on with it,” he said.

“You have got to say some of the players are playing for their Hampton careers and that includes some people who have been here a while.

“Some of them haven’t been good enough this. You are only as good as your last game and if you don’t reach the standards Dev has set then he has got to look elsewhere.”

A Olly Schulz hat-trick helped account for Hampton on Tuesday after a last-minute Dave Rainford penalty robbed them of a draw at the Clarets three days earlier.

But it was the defeat to Dover that gave Gardner greater cause for concern.

“If you are conceding goals from set pieces you are not doing the basics right,” he added.

“I think Schulz got three headers from free kicks and if you can’t defend those properly then you don’t deserve to win.”

Hampton’s next three games: Apr 3 Thurrock (a), 5 St Albans (h), 10 Weston-Super-Mare (a).