Truro City 'can't throw towel in' after key loss

Truro City manager John Askey says his side must keep fighting to stay in the National League despite a key loss to relegation rivals Gateshead.

Saturday's 2-1 home defeat saw the Tinners slip back to the bottom on the table as Gateshead moved a point above them.

Truro now have to overcome an 11-point gap between themselves and safety if they are to extend their first stay in the fifth tier to a second season.

"It's going to take a lot of guts and determination now to turn this around," Askey told BBC Radio Cornwall.

"We can't throw the towel in yet, and we've got to find a way of improving.

"I thought first half that that would have been the case, we looked strong and sharp.

"Then second half we just, for whatever reason, we never got going."

Truro were just four points from safety after their first away win of the season at Morecambe on 7 February.

But they have gone on to lose their past three league matches while their rivals have all picked up results to compound their precarious position.

Askey says he is frustrated at repeated defensive errors which have cost his side in recent weeks.

"The goal that we gave away was a poor goal," he said. "I think it's come from the corner and they just hit us on the break, and we seem to struggle with that.

"We have done in numerous games where people don't recover quickly enough and we don't get enough pressure on the ball.

"But it's the same old, and [Saturday] was one of those games where we've got to win and we haven't, so all we can do now is have a look at the game and keep going."