King’s Lynn Town head coach James Rowe has told his players they must learn quickly after a narrow 1-0 defeat to Kidderminster Harriers on Tuesday night.
A solitary set-piece goal was enough to deny the Linnets, who dominated possession and territory at the Docherty Walks Stadium, but could not find a breakthrough.
Tomorrow, Lynn travel to Alfreton in their latest National League North encounter.
Rowe said: “I just said in there to them that you have to learn and learn quickly.
“They’ll love that. One-nil, set play, away from home on a Tuesday night. That’s what this level is sometimes. It hurts to lose, and it hurts to lose in that way.”
Despite the disappointment, Rowe took encouragement from his side’s display against an experienced Kidderminster backline.
“We got round the back of them, we went through them. Sam (Collins) goes through on a third-man run and he should score, but hits the post.
“Our final delivery when we got round the back could have been better, and when the ball did drop to Adam (Marriott), he hit it well, but it was blocked.
“Then, from the corner, it was cleared off the line. It was just one of those nights. But what I’m proud of is that we kept going.”
Rowe felt his side carried the greater attacking intent throughout.
“I don’t even know if they had two or three final-third entries,” he said.
“The territory was all ours. We probably had the ball 85 per cent of the game, in their half, so not to score is disappointing.”
The defeat was only Rowe’s first home loss as Linnets boss, something he admitted stung deeply.
“To lose at home hurts. If you look at my record, I don’t lose many games at home. That’s why this one is difficult to take.”
Attention now turns to tomorrow’s trip to Derbyshire, where Rowe expects another stern challenge.
“It might be a similar sort of test,” he said.
“I’ve got to reflect a little bit on what happened tonight and make sure we’re ready.”
Alfreton this week parted company with long-serving manager Billy Heath.
Heath took over at The Impact Arena in 2018 and turned them into consistent play-off contenders in the National League North in recent seasons.
A poor start to the current campaign has seen the Reds win just one of their first seven matches, the last of Heath’s games in charge being a 5-0 defeat at Oxford City on Tuesday night.
