ALAN Knight may have seen his Magpies suffer a third consecutive defeat last night, but the county town chief insists he could not fault their efforts.

Jamie Slabber and Adam Tann put Chelmsford City in control at the Avenue Stadium and although Ryan Dovell halved the deficit just past the hour mark, the hosts were unable to snatch a late leveller.

Knight said: “I can’t fault the lads. There was a bit of naivety with the goals we conceded but even so I felt we were the better team.

“I said to the lads we had to go out, believe in ourselves and stick at what we do, and I thought we were fantastic in the second half.

“I can live with anything as long as there is effort and endeavour, and I thought there was plenty of that. With a bit of luck we could have got a draw at the end. No one likes losing and three on the bounce isn’t what I wanted, but I was pleased with the performance.”

Meanwhile, the Magpies, who host Dartford on Saturday, have signed ex-Weymouth defender Raiff Gwin-nett on non-contract terms.