FC CLACTON boss Kieron Shelley wishes his hard-working players had more points to show for their efforts this season.

He admits they were second-best in Tuesday's 3-0 Thurlow Nunn League defeat against Felixstowe and Walton - a result that came hot on the heels of a 2-0 defeat at home to Thetford Town on Saturday.

However, Shelley believes his side have made big strides since last season and insists their dedication and determination cannot be faulted.

“We probably deserve to have nine or ten points on the board but only have five," he told the Gazette.

“But that’s an improvement on where we were last year and the squad’s a hell of a lot better.

“Yes, the boys are feeling disappointed and downhearted and they’ve got a right to, because they’re playing very well and not being rewarded.

“I wish we had more to show for it.

“But we’ve played a few teams who will be in or around the top six and we’re going close against them.

“Felixstowe will be up there in the top three again but we really pushed them, especially in the first half.

“They deserved to win but we were really good in the first half and showed what we’re capable of.

“We’ve just got to keep working hard to create our own luck."

Shelley wants his side to be hard to beat at the Rush Green Bowl and he felt the players made life tricky for the Suffolk Seasiders on Tuesday.

He insists it might have been a different story had a penalty been awarded for a first-half foul on Terry Rymer.

“We’re trying to make it a difficult place to play at and we’re getting there," said the Clacton boss.

“We wanted to ruffle feathers and knew the odds were against us, because of who we were playing.

“But we wanted them to come away knowing they’d been in a game and recognising that we’d improved and are doing well.

“We set out to be awkward to play against and hard to beat and in the first half, that was the case.

“Then we conceded a sloppy goal, which came from us being in an attacking position, and that shows the fine margins in this league.

“You make one bad decision and get severely punished for it.

“Three-nil flatters them a bit because we had chances and a big penalty shout in the first half, for a foul on Terry.

“If it had been given, he would have stepped up and scored – then we’d be on another level.

“The atmosphere would have changed and the whole team would have grown.

"Confidence would have been sky high.

“That’s what we’re screaming for. We want a decision and we want something to go our way.

“Instead, ours wasn’t given and Felixstowe got a penalty at the start of the second half to make it 3-0.

“The foul was no different to our one but these little things keep going against us."

n Clacton have proudly unveiled their impressive new-look clubhouse, called XS Sports Bar, which is being managed by Seasiders skipper Wayne Chapman.

n Lewis Blanchett and Jamie Beecham have left the club and moved onto Wivenhoe Town and Little Oakley respectively.

n Clacton’s reserves were beaten 7-1 at Lawford Lads, in Essex and Suffolk Border League division one on Saturday.

n The Seasiders’ Essex Senior Cup second-round tie at home to Southend Manor has been confirmed for Tuesday, September 19 (7.45pm).

It means the club’s Thurlow Nunn League premier division match against Stowmarket Town, which was originally scheduled for that date, has been pushed back a week to Tuesday, September 26 (7.45pm).

n Clacton’s Tolleshunt D’Arcy Memorial Cup tie against Little Oakley has been confirmed for Tuesday, 3rd October (7:45 kick-off at the Bowl).