DOWNCAST Ritchie Humphreys admits his Hartlepool United team-mates are hurting after suffering another defeat.

Losing at Yeovil was their 12th reverse of the season and their seventh away from home.

He said: "We are not going to make excuses, we are where we are in the table, it's not a hard luck story.

"We've got to put things right with a couple of back to back wins and we will be working extremely hard to get out of it, we don't want to be down there.

"No-one does, the players or fans. We've got to do it right and get out of the situation we find ourselves in.

"We are on a bad run of results, but there has been plenty of games when we have been unlucky.

"On Saturday we probably didn't play as well as we did at Walsall when we were outstanding and got nothing.

"Saying that, it's happened a few times over the season and we are left to rue those types of games. But they have gone and there's 19 to go and we have to make sure we are soon further up than where we are at the moment.

"We all see the table in the papers and on the telly and see where we are, it's not nice to look at, no-one can deny that.

"We are not hiding from it and we have to get them soon.''

And Humphreys, who reverted to left back on Saturday in the seocnd half after the returning Matty Robson was withdrawn, said: "We are in a bad run and although we had plenty of possession, quite a lot of it and pinned them back in the second half, but we didn't do enough with it.

"That second goal stopped us being such a threat because it means we need to score two to get back into the game, instead of the one and it's harder.

"When we conceded we seemed to start playing a little bit more than we were for some reason.

"It wasn't good a goal they scored first, they didn't cut us open and tear us apart. We had a couple of chances to clear the ball it was a disappointing goal to concede.

"The commitment is there, the workrate is there, we've just got to tighten up.

"The second goal says a lot - we could have scored to equalise, instead it was quickly 2-0."

Meanwhile, Scott has insisted Adam Boyd is not for sale.

Northern Echo SPORT revealed last week that Luton had made a bid for the striker, but Scott said: "We are a club progressing forward and he is under contract like all our good players are.

"We want this club - and the chairman keeps saying it - to move forward in the right manner. Why should we look to get rid of our best players?

"Of course the message to any club after any of our best players is that they are not for sale.''

Pool reserves travel to Darlington this afternoon. Striker Joel Porter returned to training last week, but won't be involved at the 96.6TFM Arena.

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