DORCHESTER Town manager Craig Laird has criticised his side’s “mental attitude” after they fell to a 1-0 defeat at relegation-threatened Cambridge City.

Speaking after Saturday’s game, the boss said that his players simply didn’t want the win as much as the opposition, which according to Laird was disappointing.

He said: “We started brightly, and should have gone 1-0 up through Tom Blair, but after that it just got worse and worse.

“Not enough players had good enough games. Only two or three of the team can hold their heads up after Saturday.

“Cambridge were the better side for about 70 minutes, and that was sad for me and the people of Dorchester, because the lads had an opportunity to go and make a difference and it didn’t happen.

“I think it’s down to mental attitude, toughness, and physically I think some of them aren’t ready for this level. But it’s good because it means I find out about them quickly so I can make decisions going into next season. Some of them are playing for their futures at the club.

“They need to be performing at a much higher level if they’re going to play for Dorchester.”

The manager also didn’t pull any punches in the assessment of goalkeeper Shane Murphy’s display, after an error from the stopper gave Cambridge the only goal of the game.

He said: “When you make an individual error like Shane did, then they cost you goals, and one goal was enough to win it.

“I can’t defend it. Goalkeepers should be saving me 15 points a season, not giving away 15 points per season.

“ I know he works really hard at his game and I haven’t come across many goalkeepers who work as hard as him, but we can’t afford to have those errors, and he knows that.”