HEREFORD FC manager Pete Beadle says his players cannot think they have already won the league, otherwise their rivals will start closing the gap.

The Bulls are still 19 points clear of Evo-Stik Southern League Division One South & West, but have only taken four points from their last three home games.

Last Saturday, Hereford could only draw 2-2 against Wimborne Town, resulting in Beadle having a long conversation with the players after the game.

“The aim has always been to get promoted as quickly as possible and we’ve just got to keep winning games,” said Beadle.

“Teams are always going to raise their game, so we’ve got to make sure we have the right mindset and keep going.

“I’ve told the players not to look at the table because if teams start winning their games in hand, the gap becomes a bit smaller.

“We’ve just got to focus on ourselves.”

Beadle said the team spoke as a group following Saturday’s game, but he was not overly disappointed with the result.

“They had an off day, which is not normal for us,” said Beadle.

“It wasn’t just one or two players, everyone, for whatever reason, weren’t at it.

“The lads were disappointed with how they played, but there’s no point harbouring over it.

“We’ve just got to brush it to one side and move on to the next one.”

Hereford still have the best defensive record in the division, but Beadle has been disappointed with some of the goals his team are conceding, including the ones on Saturday.

“Some of the goals we have let in have been poor because the team haven’t had to work hard for them,” said Beadle.

“When we beat Yate 4-1, they had one shot on goal and they scored. Against Didcot, we gave them two chances and they scored two goals.

“Defending starts from the front and we’ve got to be better.

“Both goals on Saturday were defensively weak.”

Injuries to Jimmy Oates and Clayton Fortune meant that Ollie Barnes made his first start at centre-back, with Ryan Green and Joel Edwards being the full-backs.

Jamie Molyneux also started ahead of Tristan Plummer, while Bradley Williams kept his place in the middle of the park.

“I thought Ollie did ok, Joel came back in and slotted in and Ryan played right-back, so it was pretty much the same team,” said Beadle.

“So I don’t think that had an effect on the result, we’ve made more changes than that before.”

Hereford got off to a dream start when John Mills fired them ahead in the first minute and they had chance to extend their lead through Mark Preece and Rob Purdie. Wimborne equalised in the 17th minute when Tobias Holmes showed neat footwork before slotting the ball past Alex Harris. Hereford were awarded a penalty 10 minutes after the break after Mike Symons was pulled back; Mills slotting home, before Wimborne were also gifted a spot-kick. That was awarded in the 78th minute and Holmes cheekily lobbed it down the middle to secure a point for the Dorset side.

Hereford: A Harris, Green, Edwards, Purdie, Preece, Barnes, Molyneux (Sinclair 89), Williams (Edge 69), Mills, Haysham, Symons. Subs not used: Plummer, Franklin, Horsell.

Referee: Philip Hardisty.

Attendance: 2,285 (22 away).