Stones tells Horncastle Town squad to shape up - sharpish

Mickey Stones has warned his Horncastle Town squad to shape up ahead of their Challenge Cup final.

The joint-boss let his side know his thoughts following their goalless draw at home to CGB Humbertherm on Saturday.

The Wongers concluded their home campaign with a rare stalemate - but the boss didn’t see it as good enough.

“It’s our first 0-0 of the season and just our second draw, but I wasn’t happy with the game,” he said.

“We had chances and were the better team but we didn’t take them.

“But we were laboured and we weren’t sharp.

“We didn’t have a game last week and some of our lads were blowing after about 20 minutes.

“Some of the players don’t do any work outside of football and rely on 90 minutes and training for their fitness, and you could tell.”

With the May 12 cup final against Brigg Town Reserves looming, Stones is demanding better.

He added: “I’ve told them they need to be in better shape.

“We’ve got a cup final coming up and if we play like that Brigg will run rings around us - they’re 18 and 19-year-old lads and they’ll be full of energy.”

While telling his squad he expects better, Stones did admit that the management team deserve to take some of the blame.

He continued: “We have to have a look at ourselves as well.

“We made three changes but still couldn’t score.

“It’s our first season in the job and when we’ve made changes they haven’t seemed to always work.

“We need to learn from that.”