Brett Donnelly is not a man to mince his words or to avoid brutal honesty and that was the case again after a seventh straight loss in the Southern League.

However, the Hitchin Town boss was also clear on what the future could hold for him and his team.

The Canaries were beaten 2-1 by Bishop's Stortford at Top Field to remain rock bottom of the Premier Division Central table.

And yet after conceding twice in the opening 16 minutes, they created enough glorious chances to win two or more games, even if they only had George Morrall's 26th minute effort to show for it.

And those positives made the gaffer's mood a little more upbeat than in previous weeks - and he is determined to put it right.

READ MORE: Hitchin Town improving despite 2-1 loss to Bishop's Stortford - report

READ MORE: Hitchin Town 1 Bishop's Stortford 2 - full match recap as it happened

He said: "We need to make some changes, no doubt about it, but we've got the foundations of a side that can compete.  

"I played in the side that got to the play-offs and we weren’t the greatest team in the world, but we run around and we tried hard and that gets you a long way. 

"We've learned we have to do that. We’ve shored ourselves up, apart from the first 20 here. 

"I hate making excuses, this is the hand we’ve been given and you’ve got to play it, but the reprieve killed us, there's no two ways about it.

"Our budget is not anywhere near some of the teams this league but that’s life. I knew the budget wasn't great when I turned up and sometimes you are where you are.

"Do I think we deserve to be seven defeats out of seven? No. Four probably but in three of those games we've done more than enough to get something. 

"When your luck is in, your luck is in. When it is out, as it is at the moment, you just have to swallow it. 

"I'm not one to quit. I won't be quitting, I'll be trying harder to make it work. 

"If the club decide one day that we can't keep on losing games of football, which they surely will because we can't keep losing, that’s the nature of the beast, but if they decide that it's not working, then so be it. That's life. 

"I don't expect any favours because I’m Brett Donnelly and I played a few games down here. We have to start getting points on the board.  

"But [against Stortford] the fans were superb. At the end there, I massively appreciated the round of applause they gave the lads. 

"I think they've seen that actually this isn’t a bad side and they will turn the corner at some point."

There are still things to put right though and quickly, not least the way Hitchin started the contest against the Blues.

"It was absolute rubbish," blasted Donnelly. "I couldn't believe what I was seeing. [especially] after Saturday.

"We’d done alright on Saturday, we kept to the game plan but Alvechurch have got a good striker, he gets the goal and sometimes you just have to hold your hands up.  

"We haven't got that level of striker. [Daniel Sweeney] is a step one or step two striker but he is in step three. 

"But here, in the first 20 minutes, we didn't do anything that we’d asked for. 

"I’d said to them that we had to turn their full-backs and we didn’t until the 22nd minute. 

"From that point onwards, we were in the ascendancy. 

"We did have to commit a few men forward and they've had a few chances on the break, but we just need that little bit of luck. 

"And I know I’m a broken record at the minute but we are improving. How long we can keep saying we’re going to improve until we actually do [I don’t know]. We need to get a result by hook or by crook. 

"Against Stortford we should have got one.

"Performance wise a, I’m a lot more enthusiastic with what I've seen because we have been steadily progressing and  we've competed with side that we played step two football last season."