DESPITE their recent results, Robert Rice says he and his Basingstoke Town teammates are desperate to put their bad run behind them and get back to winning ways against Welling.

After making a brilliant start to the season, Town have faltered badly in recent weeks, winning just four of their last 15 games in all competitions.

Their latest setback came last weekend, a 2-1 defeat at Northwood condemning them to an early exit from the FA Trophy.

Rice opened the scoring for Town in the early stages but a poor performance saw them eventually succumb to the Ryman League outfit.

“We were all disappointed on Saturday – gutted in fact,” the 20-year-old said. “The cup is always great to play in and we needed to do the simple things well, which we didn’t do.

“We got the goal and it’s always nice to score but we couldn’t build on that. It’s about winning and we were not able to do that.”

Northwood’s second goal was the result of a mistake from goalkeeper Ross Kitteridge, who punched a cross into his own net, but Rice says that the team must take collective responsibility for the result.

“Everyone makes mistakes and Ross is a good lad who works hard,” Rice said. “There were 11 of us out there on Saturday and we need to focus on the team if we are to turn things around.”

Since joining the club from Wycombe over the summer, Rice has been one of Basingstoke’s most consistent performers, whether asked to play at right back, wing back or even in midfield.

However, even he is at a loss when asked to explain why Town have been struggling for results in recent weeks.

“It was the same players in the side when we were winning that are playing now,” Rice said. “I’m not sure what’s wrong, we just need to win some games to get confidence back.”

Next up is a home league game against in-form Welling on Saturday and Rice, who has been captaining the side in recent weeks, is keen to claim a victory.

“We are desperate for three points against ,” he said. “We all want to play well and show people what we are capable of.

“We need to go out there and show people that we want to win, work hard and do things right. The lads are good enough, we just need to work hard and show that.”