Three home games in eight days, and three dispiriting defeats - the latest a 4-2 home defeat to Prestwich Heys - have left a Ramsbottom United side looking downwards with a certain amount of trepidation as this woeful run has seen them hurtling towards the relegation places, a thought unheard of as they kicked off this season, writes Tony Cunningham.

The truth of the matter is that despite attempts to play the passing game, the youthful Rams squad are consistently being out-muscled by more experienced players with a gritty determination to grind out results.

The horrific injury list could well come into the equation whilst trying to understand the recent run, but that should merely encourage those on the sidelines to claim a regular starting spot, but the whole squad appears to be hampered by a lack of self-confidence and doubt in their ability.

Against promotion-chasing Heys, that was evident as early as the fourth minute.

A low cross from the left found a number of players able to clear, but failure to do so left Rio Wilson-Heyes with the simple task of side-footing the ball home from a matter of inches.

That gave the visitors the impetus they had been looking for, and they took control of the match with relative ease.

It was no surprise when the lead was doubled on 29 minutes when some good interplay between Wilson-Heyes and recently moved former Ram, Dylan Fitzgerald gave the latter the simple task of firing home from fifteen yards.

Yet that blow appeared to wake up the home team, for within two minutes they had halved the arrears.

A great run down the right wing from captain Oscar Radcliffe resulted in a long diagonal ball finding Harvey Hayhurst on the far side of the area, and he scooped the ball home to instil some self-belief.

This did not appear to disrupt the visitors, for within a couple of minutes of the restart they almost regained the two-goal lead when the ever-dangerous Wilson-Heyes saw the ball clear the bar following a dangerous cross into the Rams penalty area.

However, that third goal would arrive on 61 minutes when a game of ping-pong in the area ended with Natan Emery hammering home at the far post.

To underline the Rams misery, substitute Matt Davies found himself unmarked in the box, and he calmly slotted past Austin Wood after 75 minutes to put the result beyond doubt.

The last word did belong to the home side when Oscar Lucas rose highest to nod home a left-wing cross with nine minutes to go, but by that stage it was merely academic.

Another disappointing night for the Rams, and the need to begin stringing a winning run together is becoming more and more essential.

A frustrated manager Steve Wilkes said: “Another disappointing result. A much better performance than Saturday but ultimately it ended in defeat.

“It’s been four months since we last kept a clean sheet and that in itself tells a story.

“We clocked up another three injuries in the first half, and that obviously doesn’t help. I’ve said to the players we need to stick together and work hard to get out of this bad run that we are currently in.”

Ramsbottom United: Wood, Radcliffe, Walder (Bartram 54mins), Power (Lucas 73mins), Allen, Lent, Ogunby (Lawless 73mins), Whittingham (Walker 52mins), Birchall (D.McMahon 68mins), Whyte, Hayhurst.