MANAGER Steve Hollick rued two early goals but is refusing to give up on the style of play that he is implementing at the Testwood Stadium.

Back in the dugout, after missing last week’s 2-2 draw with Wantage Town, he saw the Gloucestershire outfit score both goals in the opening eight minutes of the Southern League S & W contest, writes Peter Howard.

Joe White’s header, ushered over the line by Jake Lee, and Tim Haddock’s audacious lob from just past the halfway line left the Stags without a win from their opening three matches.

But Hollick is adamant Totton will improve.

“Another sloppy ten 10 minutes at the start cost us,” he said. “It’s really difficult to start chasing games when you concede so early.

“Credit for the second goal because that was a good strike, but it’s silly little things that we need to be switched onto.

“There was nobody stood in front of the ball, nobody delaying. It’s difficult for us, the way we want to play we need to be firing on all cylinders and, sometimes, we lack a little bit of game intelligence and knowhow.

“They probably come here to set up for a 0-0 draw and we’ve played right into their hands.

“We’ll continue to get the ball down and play, but when we don’t get the rub of the green we need to roll our sleeves up and dig in.

“I don’t think the lads did that enough.”

Mike Gosney limped off after just 20 minutes with a back injury and will undergo a fitness test on Wednesday.

“He was having problems in the latter part of the week but we’ll always try and play him,” added Hollick, pictured left (Twitter/@stevehollick).

“I still believe we’ve got a strong squad,” he said. “But the injuries don’t help