NEIL Sorvel was at a loss to explain Altrincham’s baffling inconsistency after their search for a first away win of the season ended in another bitterly disappointing defeat at Aggborough on Saturday.

While Alty have won their last two home games by a combined score of 8-1, they have now suffered three successive defeats on the road, conceding no fewer than nine goals in the process and scoring just once.

Reflecting on their latest setback, a 2-0 loss to Kidderminster Harriers, assistant-manager Sorvel pulled no punches.

He said: "It’s a bit of a puzzle at the moment, because we are up and down and up and down, and you don’t know what you are going to get from one week to the next.

"The players come in on Tuesday and Thursday and train really well, then they turn in that type of performance.

"For periods of the second half, it looked like we had thrown 11 lads on to the pitch who had never played together before and didn’t really know what they were doing.

"It was bizarre to watch, and it is really frustrating at the moment.

"Kidderminster's one-goal half-time lead was probably a fair reflection, but, in the second half, we went backwards.

"They went up a gear, and for 15 minutes or so, we couldn’t get out of our own half and were lucky to be only one behind at that point.

"Even when they dropped off after going 2-0 up, we didn’t look capable of penetrating them.

"The number of times we lost possession cheaply was really poor, and we are just not being consistent enough.

"If the first half was poor, it went downhill rapidly after that. It was a really disappointing performance, and we deserved nothing."

Alty switch their sights to the FA Cup on Saturday, with a second qualifying round tie against Chester at the Deva Stadium.

The Robins, who will give James Jones a late fitness test, will be aiming to go one better than last month’s league encounter, when they were pegged back by a last-minute equaliser.