WESTFIELDS manager Sean Edwards says his players need to refocus if they have aspirations of winning the Midland Football League Premier Division.

The allpay.park side were thrashed 5-1 by lowly Shawbury United on Monday, which came on the back of a disappointing 3-3 home draw with Stourport Swifts.

Westfields have now only picked up seven points from their last six games and with leaders Alvechurch not playing on Monday and second-placed Lye going down 3-1 at bottom club Brocton, it was a massive missed opportunity for Edwards’ team to reduce the deficit at the top.

“If you have any aspiration of winning the league then you’ve got to go to places like Shawbury and win, but it’s going to be a battle and a scrap,” said Edwards.

“It was the same for them, but they adapted, we didn’t.

“We will now need to put a run together, like 10 wins on a trot again, then we will go into the last 11 games needing about 20 points to win the league.

“But first and foremost, you’ve got to defend as a team and do your job and if you’re not doing that then you’ve got no chance of winning games.

“We have been conceding sloppy goals for the last three weeks and, as a team it’s not good enough.

“Our lads have been great up until now, but they need to refocus and if that means putting in an extra training session, even if they’re tired, then we will.”

Westfields won their opening 10 league games, but Edwards admits that his team’s extraordinary FA Cup run has affected preparation time for games.

“One of the major reasons is that that the FA Cup has not given us enough time doing training because we’ve had so many games,” said Edwards.

“But that’s still no excuse for the goals we conceded.

“As a team, we’ve got to get back to defending well and quickly, because that is what will win you leagues. The pitches are also levelling themselves out now and getting heavy, so we will have to try and adapt. That’s what Hereford did last season when they brought in Mike Symons and went more direct after the break.

“But we haven’t got the experience at the back like they had.”

Nathan Hodge scored four of Shawbury’s goals.

His first came in the 10th minute with a firm header before the former Ludlow man added another 12 minutes later.

Chris Ham reduced the deficit a minute after the restart, but any hopes that Westfields would get back in the game were shortlived.

A terrible mistake from goalkeeper Keiron Blackburn gifted Hodge his hat-trick and the striker then added another goal.

Keanu Cooper completed the rout.

“It was a mistake by Keiron, but on another note he has made some great saves for us recently," added Edwards.

“But the whole team was not good enough and I can’t blame one person.

“However, we are missing key players. Kane [Kahaki] is a big loss at the back and Aidan Thomas is now going to Thailand for three weeks.

“Sirdic Grant played some minutes on Monday, but he’s a long way away from being fit.”

Westfields are 12 points off top spot, but have five games in hand of Alvechurch.

Lye are eight points clear of Westfields having played three more games. This Saturday, Westfields host St Andrews this before going to Brocton next Tuesday.