King's Lynn Town boss Gary Setchell pulled no punches after his side slumped to a 4-2 home defeat against basement boys Hucknall on Saturday.

The Linnets manager admitted his outfit, third in Evo-Stik Division One South, were well below their best as their winless run in the league stretched to four games.

He bemoaned the 'schoolboy defending' which gifted Hucknall at least three of their goals on an afternoon where debutant Shane Tolley's brace was not enough to get Lynn out of jail.

Setchell said: 'I think I'm upset more than angry. I'm disappointed. I said to the boys: 'Shane Tolley's come in the side and he must think how we are third place in the league'. Our decision making was poor, our defending set pieces were poor, our passing was poor, we just didn't look at the races.

'Yes, people say their 'keeper made three or four brilliant saves but we gifted them all their goals at crucial times – and this is from a group of players who have been resilient most of the season. We had a chat about it. Football's not a social gathering. It's a job. And you've got to come here and do your job week in and week out — if not eventually you go. I've just given the players a few reminders that it was sub-standard.'

The display, which saw Lynn lose their second Evo-Stik match at home on the bounce, was in stark contrast to those they have shown in this season's FA Trophy.

A string of giant-killing exploits have grabbed the headlines and set up a huge clash with Blue Square Premier AFC Telford United on Saturday. And Setchell conceded some of his players may have already had one eye on the Conference club's visit.

'You look at Worksop two weeks ago and you wouldn't think this is the same group of players,' said the Lynn boss. 'Russell Dunkley, he played on Saturday, and he did his hamstring last week. The physio (Phil Ward) said to me 'what's most important?' and I said Hucknall was more important than Saturday. I don't know whether players had their eyes on the Trophy but some of them might not be playing after that.

'I think it's our worst performance and our worst result. We've had some unbelievably monumental wins this year and this was unfortunately a monumental loss. You have to take it on the chin.

'If I was full-time I'd have had them in training with me yesterday, today, tomorrow and Wednesday. But I'm not. I'm part-time. So they'll be back with me tomorrow and we'll be working as hard as ever because they're an honest bunch. They're disappointed and upset. But that's football. It kicks you in the teeth sometimes. Don't think you've ever cracked it because you haven't.'

• To read a match report and see a gallery of photos from Saturday's game, click on the related link on the right-hand side of this page.