STEVE Pitt admits 'time will tell' on whether his Braintree Town side have what it takes to remain in the National League, after a 2-1 home defeat to Aldershot kept them five points from safety, writes BEN MCCARTHY.
The Iron conceded twice in the second half, firstly to a fortuitous Sean Patton deflection, before James Henry profited from another ricochet and placed in the winner from the goalmouth.
In between, Taylan Harris netted his first Iron goal at Cressing Road, marking his second for the club in as many games, but it proved not to be enough.
Braintree boss Pitt said: “They [Aldershot] were definitely the better side in the first half, I actually thought we were in the second half.
"I was really disappointed with the first goal, from a defensive point of view and once we got back into the game, I thought we were the better side.
“But we conceded another sloppy goal, and we’ve had chances even after that, but we’re just not clinical in front of goal.
"From 1-1, there’s no way we should lose that. The table doesn’t lie, we’re in this situation for a good reason, we clearly haven’t been good enough, because we’re 21st in the table.”
Pitt was hoping for a strong response from his team, after they ended Saturday’s defeat at Altrincham with momentum and chances.
However, they failed to build upon that, missing an opportunity to reduce the gap to safety.
“The players have got to ask themselves where they go from here," said Pitt.
"There are 12 games to go, and we have got some big ones coming up.
"Have they got the heart, the grit and the desire to get us out of this? Time will tell.”
Three of Braintree’s next four games take place away from home but are all against the three teams below them in the table.
They start with the long trip to Truro on Saturday before another immense journey to Gateshead next Wednesday and then after a home game against Wealdstone, a visit to Morecambe in the middle of March.
Pitt believes that plenty will be learned about his side’s hope of staying in the division, in this run of fixtures.
He added: “I think you’re going to have a pretty good reflection after that fourth game and insight into where our season is going."
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