Lowestoft Town joint boss Micky Chapman has challenged his side to prove they are a lot better than their opening day defeat at Dulwich Hamlet.

The Blues entertain Thamesmead at Crown Meadow this evening (kick-off 7.45pm) after a chastening 2-0 defeat to the Londoners when Chapman admitted his side deserved nothing from the game.

However, the Trawlerboys chief wants the loss to act as a wake-up call to his side when they take on another of the division's new boys tonight.

'We haven't lost any belief in our players and we've got two home games now where we need to put things right,' said Chapman, whose side endured a third consecutive play-off final defeat last season. 'We weren't good enough on the day and we've got to learn from it. Fair play to Dulwich because they deserved the points.

'But Saturday was just the first game in 46 and we know there is still a very long way to go.'

Lowestoft need look only as far as last season for evidence early results rarely provide an accurate gauge of who will be the runners and riders of the division.

The Blues went to Whitehawk on the opening day of last season and emerged with a 3-1 win and the Sussex outfit went on to be promoted as champions.

'We went down there last season and beat Whitehawk easily,' he said. 'We then beat Concord (Rangers) shortly after and look at who got promoted.

'We just had too many players off colour (against Dulwich). When you have half a dozen players not on their game then it makes it very difficult, especially in this league.'

Lowestoft's misery was compounded against Dulwich when Curtis Haynes-Brown limped off with an Achilles injury and is a major doubt this evening along with Curtley Williams, who is managing a knee problem.

'We've got some thinking to do. We took a couple of knocks - Curtley has an ongoing knee injury and Curtis Haynes-Brown limped off with an Achilles injury. They are both doubts.

'But we've got players on the sidelines who are desperate to play. We are not going to go overboard but the players have got to show they are a lot better than Saturday.'