GARY Hackett admits he is finding it hard to be patient as he waits for his Glassboys to recapture their ruthless streak.

The Stourbridge boss was again left to bemoan missed chances in front of goal as his side drew 1-1 at home to Stamford on Tuesday night.

The stalemate was Stour's third in as many games.

Hackett said: "We must start to kill teams off when we are on top. We left ourselves vulnerable against Stamford because we only had a one goal lead.

"In other seasons we would have gone two or three up. I think we deserved to win the game."

The draw dealt a further blow to Stour's chances of making a Northern Premier League play-off place and left Hackett determined to turn things around.

"There is a lot of promise in the squad but it will take time for them to gel," he added. "It is a time for patience but I'm as impatient as the next fan.

"It is time for the players to start to show that they have a part to play, both this season and next.

"We are not anywhere near where we want to be at the moment. I have ambitions to be much higher than this - and we will be."

The Memorial Ground manager moved this week to boost his firepower by bringing in one-time Coventry City prospect Aron Wint, the striker having more recently featured for Conference North clubs Solihull Moors and Leamington. He was handed his debut against Stamford.

During the game, the Glassboys grabbed a gifted lead after 28 minutes when the alert Drew Canavan intercepted a weak back-pass by Stamford's giant central defender Thomas Batchelor.

Canavan then kept his cool to round stranded goalkeeper Andy Stevens but his shot was then dramatically blocked on the line by full back Ryan Clarke - who couldn't prevent the ball from rebounding back out to Canavan who made no mistake at the second attempt.

It was Stamford who stepped up the pace after half time and gradually began to pile on the pressure.

They were duly rewarded on 66 minutes when Danny Clements broke clear down the right and set up the chance for skipper Jordan Smith to smash home past goalkeeper Dean Coleman in spectacular style.

Stamford should have gone onto seal all the points on 78 minutes when substitute Courtney Meade escaped the attentions of the Stourbridge defence but then blazed hopelessly wide with only Coleman to beat.

It was a real let off for Stourbridge who did manage to raise their game in the closing moments, but without success.

In a belated Stourbridge flurry on goal, substitute Junior Smikle blasted the ball the wrong side of the post on 88 minutes.

Then in stoppage time, the brave Stevens did well to grasp the ball at Smikle's feet after the Stourbridge sub had threatened to run clean through.

Stour will look to bag their first win in six matches when they travel to seventh-placed Curzon Ashton this Saturday