Cheltenham boss Darrell Clarke says his players need “all of his support” after another defeat without scoring.
The Robins’ 2-0 defeat by Fleetwood saw them fail to score for the 11th consecutive league game.
They have now equalled the all-time English Football League record set by Coventry in 1919-20 and Hartlepool in 1992-93 for matches without scoring.
“The changing room is very, very low,” Clarke, who was appointed last week, told BBC Radio Gloucestershire.
“The fans made their feelings known after the game. [But] keep hitting them with a stick is not going to get it, I don’t think it’s a lack of effort just a real, real lack of quality through the team – wrong decision-making and players looking like little boys in a real tough league, and that’s the reality of it.
“They’re going to get all of my support to try and turn them into men and into footballers. For a lot of them, this is going to be a really harsh lesson.”
- Clarke under ‘no illusions’ of Cheltenham task
Cheltenham remain bottom of League One with one point, seven points from safety.
Their goal drought had already set a new record for consecutive games without scoring a goal at the start of a season – which was previously eight games and set by Halifax Town in 1990-91 – before this new record was equalled.
Clarke was appointed on Friday but took over on Monday, and said that he is going to need more than one training session before results start turning around.
“I’d love to tell the fans it’s going to be a quick fix but it’s not. I’ve done a lot of games as a manager and there’s a lot wrong at the minute,” he said.
“I will get it right, I know I will. There’s going to be a lot of sleepless nights ahead, a lot of hard work but that’s what I’m here for and we owe it to our fans to make sure we can get a team out there they can be proud of.”
Cheltenham next host seventh-placed Derby at home on Saturday.
