MARTYN Rogers is aiming to quickly forget Saturday's dismal performance against Hednesford Town by leading Tiverton Town to victory at Clevedon tonight.

The Yellows boss admitted his players put in their worst performance for months when they crashed 2-0 to the Pitmen at Ladysmead.

But Tivvy have the perfect opportunity to get their Southern League Premier Division survival bid straight back on track when they travel to face fellow strugglers Clevedon Town at the Hand Stadium this evening (7.45).

Rogers said: "Hednesford were in a different class, they were better all round and it is the first time for a long time you can say we were battered.

"We looked a shadow of the side we have been over the last couple of months and I don't think I had a player, apart from Steve Book, who played like I know they can do.

"So I am pleased we have got another game on Tuesday. We have got to put this performance behind us and get back to the kind of form we have been in lately."

Midfielder Jamie Hatch will return from suspension to face the Seasiders tonight, while Oxford United loanee Richard Groves — who joined the club last week — is also expected to feature after his debut on Saturday.

But the Yellows will still be without banned captain Nathan Rudge and that will be a major concern for Rogers, considering how his side played without their influential skipper at the weekend.

The Tivvy boss said his side could have salvaged a draw from the Hednesford match had it not been for two instances of naive defending for the goals.

"We looked sorry for ourselves with Nathan out. We just looked devoid of any ideas," Rogers lamented.

"I don't want to detract from their performance because they were a good side, got on top of us and were strong, but we were a bit naive.

"For their second goal Alex (Faux) went to ground when their player was on the touchline. If he had stayed on his feet he would have had a lot of work to do. He got the ball but their player has got lucky with a ricochet and then he was away. Their first goal was too easy for my liking as well. They were winning most of the headers yet my players were still going forward and leaving their men free on goal kicks, because they were thinking they were going to win the flick on.

"If we had got a draw it would have been daylight robbery, but there is no reason why we couldn't have got a 0-0 if we had defended right."