Phil Babb admits his new-look Hayes & Yeading United squad is learning on the job after they lost three of their first four Conference South matches.
United impressively won 3-1 at Boreham Wood on Saturday with skipper Luke Williams, winger Kamaron English and centre-back Dean Inman netting.
However, both Williams and English were missing through injury on Monday as they were beaten 1-0 by Eastbourne Borough.
The only goal of a tight game arrived in the 51st minute when United failed to deal with a corner, which frustrated former Liverpool and Ireland centre-back Babb.
He told West London Sport: “The only danger they caused us was from set pieces and ultimately they scored from one.
“That’s the bit that hurts the most because we highlighted it to the boys.
“The centre-halves [Charlie] Wassmer and [Dean] Inman are very good – they were outstanding against Boreham Wood.
“But there was no ownership of the corner, no-one was positive enough to go and claim it or clear the danger.”
But Babb is confident his young side will grow together as the season progresses and won’t be involved in another relegation scrap.
He said: “We’re nine days in and of 12 points to play for, we’ve got three in the bag.
“It’s a work in progress. We’ve built a squad from scratch and now they’re learning how to perform at this level.
“But I think we’ve got a team good enough not to be in the same position as last season.”
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This post was last modified on 27/08/2013