Carshalton Athletic boss Ian Hazel slammed his side for giving Hampton & Richmond Borough an easy ride on Saturday, and succumbing to a 4-0 defeat.

The heavy loss sent Carshalton sliding to second from bottom in the Ryman Premier League, in stark contrast to their hosts who stretched an unbeaten run to seven games.

Hazel said: "I was very disappointed with our performance in the first-half, we were second best in most departments.

“Too many of the lads were off the pace on a wet, heavy pitch and it cost us. Hampton adapted to the conditions while we failed to do simple things effectively.”

Hampton scored twice in a minute to put them in pole position after just 11 minutes, a fact Hazel claimed knocked the stuffing out of his side.

“Three of their goals came because we gave their forwards too much time and space, so we’ll work on rectifying that,” he added.

“I was encouraged with our response after the break, and we kept battling and testing their keeper even after the third went in, but we must up our overall performance level to give ourselves a chance of picking up points.”

Carshalton now have two games per week coming up over the next month, a crucial period for a club aiming to pick up points in their quest for survival.

First up, however, is a third round Surrey Senior Cup tie away at Merstham tomorrow [Tuesday].

Hazel said: “We missed Lewis Taylor (suspended) and Bobby Price (injured) against Hampton but they’ll be back for consideration on Tuesday.

“I thought debutant Jason Henry was one real positive to take from the Hampton game. He was a constant threat and will be a good addition to the squad.”