Avro manager Alex Frost admits that his side are ‘running on empty’ after they suffered a disappointing 1-0 defeat against Vauxhall Motors at the Vestacare Stadium on Saturday.

After an even first half with few clear cut opportunities at either end, the home side suffered a setback when Kane Wallwork was sent off for an off the ball incident with two minutes left of the opening period. However, there was still time before the break for Motors keeper Damien Eastham to take exception to a challenge from Liam Ellis and pick up two yellow cards in quick succession as tempers boiled over.

The visitors had no substitute stopper on the bench, but Avro failed to trouble stand in keeper Simon Thelwell for the remainder of the encounter, and were also unable to take advantage of playing against nine men for a 10-minute spell after the break when Joe Heath was sin binned for dissent.

“This division is such a tough one; you have got to be on it week in week out if you want to be successful, not just physically but mentally from the very first to the very last minute of each and every game,” he said. “We were handed a brilliant opportunity to take all three points and we just couldn’t get it done.

“Fair play to them, they protected their keeper really well and their shape was excellent when they went down to nine. But we have to be better in those situations. I felt that we panicked and tried to force the game, rather than being patient and waiting for our opportunity to strike, which I am sure would have come along. We have a relatively small squad and they always leave it all out on the pitch. The problem is that right now, I don’t feel they have got much left to leave out there.”

Another midweek road trip beckons tonight, with Frost’s side taking on Golcar United in the first round of the Macron Cup with the winners to host Abbey Hey in the next round.

Frost said: “We need to go there with the right attitude; they are having a really good season in Division One North. But I am confident that we can win the tie, and I think the prospect of playing a local team in the next round is all the incentive that the players need to go again.”