ASSISTANT manager Matt Clarke says a stronger mentality and togetherness will be key to Halesowen turning their fortunes around.

The Yeltz dropped to bottom place in the Northern Premier League after Tuesday night's defeat against high-flying Witton Albion.

A goal from Jack Kelly wasn't enough for Halesowen to salvage something from the game at the Grove, which came after last Saturday's match at Ashton fell victim to the wet weather.

They now face another tough trip to fourth-placed Farsley Celtic this Saturday and Clarke is under no illusion that a big improvement is needed.

He said: "It was really disappointing against Witton and we're obviously on a really bad run at the moment.

"We really wanted to build on our draw with Stafford last week but then had Saturday's game called off. It was frustrating because we felt like we had some momentum after we had ended a run of defeats. Instead we didn't play and had to start all over again.

"It's clear to see that we have a soft centre and aren't strong enough down the spine of the team. If you look at the pattern of our games, when we concede one we often concede a second soon after.

"It's really important that we stick together and keep working hard. They say that a team should be a reflection of the management but we don't feel like that's the case at the moment. We have got to be stronger."

Clarke hopes playing away from the Grove this Saturday will help bring out those qualities.

He added: "The atmosphere isn't great at home at the moment and the fans are making it clear they're not happy, which the are fully entitled to do.

"One thing that helped us last season was that we found confidence away from home. Hopefully we can do that again.

"We will go to Farsley as underdogs once more but we don't mind that. We're at a stage where just one win can turn a season around and hopefully that'll be the case.

"John (Hill) and myself are still working hard to bring in fresh faces as well. It's something we have done over the last few weeks but we still want to get people in who can improve us and freshen it up."

Ben Clarke remains a doubt for the weekend due to an on-going back injury.