We mustn't lose faith, says Bromley chief after derby reverse at hands of AFC Wimbledon

No room for self-pity. Andy woodman in usual no-nonsense form post-match : Picture by @YTJourno

Bromley's bid to get back on an even keel after two fearful batterings in the past week fell flat, as they were well beaten by south London rivals AFC Wimbledon.

Monday night's 2-0 defeat at Hayes Lane may not have been as embarrassing as the 7-2 shellacking at Sheffield Wednesday or the 5-0 home defeat to Orient but it suggests a worrying direction of travel for the Ravens as they try to adapt to life in League One for the first time in their history.

They were hit by three injuries during the course of the game which disrupted their plans, but boss Andy Woodman was in no mood to make excuses and his usual, straight-talking message was: 'We need to stick together and tough it out.'

Bromley were on the backfoot almost immediately, allowing a cross to reach a virtually unmarked Jayden Stockley for a free header - and the striker is usually pretty prolific when it comes to that side of his game. Myles Hippolyte's second-half goal secured a comfortable win.

"We were masters of our own downfall," Woodman said. " If you make mistakes like that early in the game - and the first goal's very important - you start chasing the game.

"I know the lads have had a go and given it everything but we just weren't good enough and we need to be better in the final third. We need more quality up there to keep the pressure on the opposition, which we're not doing at the moment. It's very un-Bromley like at the moment.

"I can't recall them having that many shots on goal, but that said, nor did we. It was going to be small margins or a mistake to split the teams early doors because we're both on the back of a tricky little run.

"I've said to the players that we've got to grow up quickly now because we can't keep coming in here and saying we were unlucky with this, or just didn't get that right, it's not acceptable. We are professional footballers and I'm a professional manager and we have to make sure we start turning a corner and get some clean sheets in the building."

The Bromley boss continued: "The injuries didn't help, but that happens. I always say that I've got a no-excuse culture here with these players, that's what we've got a squad for. It does throw you out a little bit as you get to the latter stages of the game, if you want to put two up top and have used all your subs.

"We've got to make sure we all stick together. We knew it was going to be tough. We knew it was going to be a bumpy road, but what we've got to do is keep believing and keep working. We've got to keep grafting on the training ground, and guess what? It will fall for us, I'm sure it will.

"Our quality in the final bit was just not there. We'd just take an extra touch to put a cross in or we put it in too early. We were huffing and puffing and I just thought they were a bit more streetwise than us all over the pitch - with a little nudge to put us off balance or a little clever foul.

"Just the way they went about their business was way more streetwise than we are - and we need to get that in our game quickly."

Woodman added: "I'm not going to stand here and say we're having bad luck because we're not, we're not taking control of the game ourselves and doing what we need to do.

"We've got to make sure we don't lose faith and don't lose confidence. We wanted to be in this league, so we've got to embrace it and we've got to expect it to be tough and make sure that we overcome it."