Lowestoft Town joint boss Ady Gallagher believes the Blues boast their 'most focused group of players' ahead of their trip to Billericay in the Ryman League Premier Division this evening, kick-off 7.45pm.

The Trawlerboys are looking to bounce back from their surprise defeat to lowly Cray Wanderers at the weekend but Gallagher is adamant his squad still has enough quality to produce the consistency needed for another promotion challenge.

'This team is a young side really and they are still learning things about each other,' he said. 'We're really happy with the squad we've got and it's the most focused group of players that we've had for some time.

'We know Saturday wasn't good enough and we need to get back to the standards we had set for the previous weeks.'

Lowestoft's revolving door continued last week with Lee Smith departing Crown Meadow due to work and family pressures. The Trawerlerboys acted quickly in replacing the former Bury man by bringing in Manny Osei from Metropolitan Police with the striker making his debut in the defeat to Cray.

It was a familiar tale for Gallagher's men on Saturday as, once again, they struggled against one of the division's minnows just as they did last season. The Lowestoft chief admitted his side had not prepared mentally for the game but insists it is not becoming a major issue for his side.

'I think it's a mental thing - we said all the right things in the build-up to the game but I just did not think that we mentally prepared as well as we have done in previous games. It's something that we've got to put right but I don't accept that it's an ongoing problem. Historically we have had some poor results against sides we should be beating but we have got a different set of players now and I'm sure they will learn from it.'

Lowestoft are hopeful that Chris Henderson could make his return this evening after recovering from a thigh strain whilst Stuart Ainsley will come back into the squad after 90 minutes for the reserves on Saturday.