Phil Parkinson remained upbeat and insisted Altrincham are still on the right track to make an impact on the National League after they suffered an undeserved defeat at high-flying Wealdstone on Saturday.

A single goal was enough to settle it and lift Wealdstone into third place after Alty once more made light of being on the road and made the running for long spells of what was their seventh straight away game since hosting Weymouth on the opening day of the season.

"Believe it or not, I actually enjoyed the game,’ said Alty boss Parkinson.

"I thought we were fantastic. We did our research on Wealdstone, and they are a top footballing team, so to come here and have as much of the game as we did spoke volumes for us.

‘For 75 per cent of the game, we dominated possession, and for 50-60 per cent of it, we were the ones carrying a goal threat.

"I can’t quite figure out whether they defended exceptionally well or we didn’t do well enough in the final third, but there were some amazing blocks by their lads.

"I’m really disappointed with the result after we put so much into it, but the fact is we have to start putting the ball in the back of the net when we’re on top.

"There’s no getting away from that, but I thought the lads were a credit to the club and showed again we are more than good enough to compete at this level.

"When I see performances like that, I know that if we keep moving forward and playing to those levels, we will get positive results. Our defenders were superb, midfield was outstanding and the frontline looked a real threat – there were tons of positives."

Injury problems are piling up for Alty and Crewe Alexandra came to their rescue for a second time in quick succession last week, by allowing defender Billy Sass-Davies to follow midfielder Joe Robbins to Alty for the next month, and Parkinson admitted he may have to dip into the loan market again after centre-back Ritchie Sutton and striker Fisayo Adarabioyo picked up knocks at Wealdstone.

"We may have to ask if clubs can help us out again after we have assessed the extent of the latest injuries," he said.