Ryan Lowe says Rotherham's penalty came as a 'sucker punch'

Chester City striker Ryan Lowe admits that there are no easy answers as the struggling League Two club attempt to halt their collapse in form.

Tuesday's 5-1 home defeat by Rotherham at the Deva was City's ninth defeat in their last 11 games, leaving them one point above the relegation zone.

Lowe told BBC Radio Merseyside: "I honestly don't know how to lift things but we have to try.

"We can't go on sulking about it, a lot of the lads' heads are down."

Kevin Ellison actually put Chester 1-0 up against Rotherham with his second goal in successive games.

But Rotherham got themselves back into the game through a Reuben Reid penalty, the first goal in a frantic 20-minute spell that saw City trail 3-1 at the break.

And Lowe believes that conceding a crucial, match-turning penalty for the second game running had an adverse effect.

Young defender Kevin Roberts was penalised for handball despite apparently being fouled by former Chester striker Drewe Broughton.

And Lowe admitted: "It was a sucker punch.

"To go in at half time 3-1 down after we dominated the first 30 minutes, the lads are down, the whole place is down.

"But we have to try and lift it somehow."

We have to perform and if we don't we're going to get beat like that all the time Ryan Lowe

Lowe, City's 13-goal top-scorer, is now urging his team-mates to put their recent frustrations behind them in time for Saturday's visit of Grimsby Town - the team just one place (and one point) below them.

"We have to perform," added Lowe, who has not scored now in 12 games. "If we don't, we're going to get beat like that all the time."

To add to City's woes, despite slashing adult admission prices to just £10 for the rest of the season, the Chester public failed to respond.

The gate at the Deva to see City stretch their winless run to 15 games since Boxing Day was just 1,235 - the club's lowest of the season.

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