Kevin Darch urges Barnstaple Town players

Barnstaple Town joint-manager Kevin Darch has warned his players they will be relegated if their performances fail to improve.

Barum suffered their third successive loss on Tuesday night, going down 3-0 to AFC Totton in a game which also saw Kyle Rickard shown a straight red card.

The result means Town remain 21st in the Evo-Stik League South, and Darch has urged his side to roll their sleeves up quickly to avoid the drop.

“We need to wise up pretty quickly or we will be getting relegated,” he said. “This is what I keep stressing to them.

“A lot of those players have never been in a relegation battle. They don’t seem to realise you need to roll up your sleeves and have a good go at it.

“Sometimes we just think we’re going to play pretty football, but it can’t be like that the way the pitches are at the minute, they’re heavy and boggy.

“It’s more about rolling their sleeves up, putting your foot in and needing to be more streetwise.”

Barum face a daunting trip to promotion chasing Salisbury town on Saturday, and Darch is hopeful of claiming a result to start a run of unbeaten games.

Source Devon Live