NEIL Tolson pulled no punches after an ‘unacceptable’ first-half performance cost Altrincham a damaging 2-0 defeat at Torquay on Tuesday night.

Alty’s caretaker-manager ordered his players back on to the pitch barely five minutes into the half-time interval, but, despite a marked improvement, they still slid nearer relegation from the National League.

"I’ve absolutely no complaints whatsoever about the result," said Tolson whose side face a testing trip to Eastleigh on Saturday. "The first half was not acceptable for those who travelled down, for myself or anyone else connected with the club.

"They were back out early at half time because I didn’t want them anywhere near the dressing room. We were awful in the first half and paint was stripped off the wall in the few minutes they were in there.

"I just told them they had got us into this hole, go out there and dig us out of it. Everything we had worked on in training was missing, but at least we had a go in the second half. If we had started the first half the same way, we might have got something out of the game.

"We created a few openings but were undone by a hopeful long ball for their second goal. It’s particularly frustrating that Tim Deasy had just three things to do and two of them involved picking the ball out of the back of the net.

"But from the moment I took over, it was never going to be easy, and I’m not going to make excuses now.

"We are where we are, and at the end of the season, the league table doesn’t lie. If we stay up, we’ve been good enough. If we don’t, we haven’t been."

With Eastleigh chasing a place in the promotion play-offs, Alty could have done without injuries continuing to pile up. Key midfielder Jake Moult will again be missing with an ankle injury, while Simon Richman is rated only 50-50 after going off with a painful bang on the hip.

Sam Heathcote is hopeful of shaking off a slight calf problem.