Chesham must bounce back from cup loss - Duncan

Image source, Rex Features

Image caption, Chesham United applaud their fans following defeat by Lincoln City

Chesham United co-manager James Duncan urged his players not to feel sorry for themselves after their FA Cup run was ended by Lincoln City.

The National League South side came through three qualifying rounds to reach the main draw for the second season in a row.

But their League One opponents took the lead through Jack Moylan late in the first half and added three more goals in the second for a 4-0 win.

"Their fitness came into it; they were a very physical, powerful, fit team and overran us a bit in the second half," Duncan told 大象传媒 Three Counties Radio.

"You need to go in front in the game. If you go in front you've got half a chance because [otherwise] they are so clinical."

A crowd of 3,963 packed into The Meadow to see if Chesham could reach round two for the first time since 2016, and only the second time in their history in a game which was televised live.

"It's so good for the club, the town, and all the volunteers who put in so much time and effort - it's great reward for them to have a TV game. Our league support has been good this year so hopefully they'll all come back," said Duncan, who has been joint manager with Michael Murray since 2018.

Chesham are 10th in the league, only four points outside the play-off places, and have a home game against Worthing on Saturday.

"The league is very hard, it's relentless. It's really important that we don't feel sorry for ourselves," Duncan continued.

"We're playing against a top side [on Saturday] and if that happens we're going to get undone. We've got to be very careful of that.

"We had a good cup run last year and then lost two games. We need to learn from those experiences and make sure we get our league form right."

Full-back Callum Adebiyi, who will miss the Worthing game because of suspension, agreed with Duncan, saying: "We need to get back into it quick because the league's the most important thing.

"Saturdays, Tuesdays, Christmas period - it's going to be heavy, so we need to get back into it quick."

He added: "We've had a brilliant cup run. We started well in the first half but in the end their quality showed.

"I thought we could have gone ahead in the first half but their fitness told in the second, especially going downhill [on our pitch] - that was a lot tougher for us."