Romeo in the market

Yashwa Romeo’s Thatcham Town will be looking to bounce back from consecutive Isthmian League South Central defeats with a trip to mid-table Westfield at the weekend.

The Kingfishers conceded a late goal to lose 2-1 against Sutton Common Rovers, bringing their two game unbeaten run to a disappointing end.

Boss Romeo was keen to stress that there was nothing to separate the sides, other than Sutton’s considerable height advantage.

He said: “It was like the land of the giants, it was difficult to compete with them.

“They’re good at what they do, they’re big and strong, it makes the game ugly but it’s effective.

“I think we deserved a draw at least from the game, but we can’t keep conceding nothing goals.

“We found it hard to break them down and didn’t convert when we had the chance.

“We were the better team, I think Sutton only had two shots on target, it was one of those games.”

Romeo’s side then suffered a 2-0 defeat at league leaders Northwood despite another competitive performance.

In fact, Thatcham have been competitive all season – with the notable exception of a 4-0 defeat at Binfield last month – but have been left to rue missed chances and a succession of defensive mistakes.

“To be honest Northwood’s first goal was about the only one this season where we haven’t made a mistake, where we haven’t gifted them a goal,” Romeo said.

“We just haven’t been able to put together a full 90 minute performance, that’s frustrating.

“We haven’t scored first in the league all season, we’ve got to change that and stop giving ourselves a mountain to climb.”

Romeo moved to bring in left-back Ramarni Medford-Smith on loan from Bracknell and versatile defender Levi Heholt, who has been training with the club since the summer.

The 23-year-old Medford-Smith made an FA Cup appearance for Reading less than 24 months ago, while Heholt is a familiar face in West Berkshire, having spent time at both Hungerford and Newbury.

Nevertheless Romeo reluctantly admits he still feels he needs to look elsewhere to improve his squad, with a number of positions still lacking adequate strength-in-depth and quality.

He said: “Is the squad where we need it to be, I’m not too sure, I’m looking to change it again.

“I’d love to continue to work with all the talent we’ve got, but I don’t think what we’ve got will get us to where we need to be.

“I’ve got to be brutally honest, I don’t think we’ve got the quality we need at the moment, I think we need one or two who can put their foot on the ball.”

Next up for Romeo's side is a trip to 10th placed Westfield.

"We're anticipating another tough game, we'll go there to win the game but if you offered me a point now, I'd take that to be honest."