TONY Gore says Dudley Sports' defending must improve quickly if they want to end their winless run.

Sports lost 5-1 at AFC Bridgnorth last Saturday to make it eight without victory in the West Midlands Premier League.

Gore is under no illusion about where his team's problems lie.

He said: "I'm disappointed with our defending. We have made five bad decisions for all the goals we conceded.

"We are making sloppy errors and failing to do the basic things right.

"We have asked the players to clear their lines and not take any risks but they still aren't listening. It was a catalogue of errors in the second half that let us down. It was never a 5-1 game."

Gore says he is now in the process of rebuilding his side after some players recently moved on.

"You find out a lot about you players when the chips are down and a few have been quick to jump ship," added the manager.

"We will now be aiming to have three to five new players in the squad before the weekend."

Sports have resigned last season's top scorer Stuart Hillman, who has struggled to play games since his summer move to neighbours Gornal Athletic.

Gornal right back John Phillips has also linked up as well as left-sided player Aaron Weston from Black Country Rangers.

All will be in contention for this Saturday's derby clash with Cradley Town at the Beeches (3pm kick-off). The Hammers sit third from bottom and just one place above Sports.

Gore said: "It is a big game because it is a local derby. It is also important as far as the league is concerned because we have to make these games count. We have games in hand on some of the teams above us but need to take advantage of that."