Corby Town manager Graham Drury has said that there is “no shame” in his side losing their first match in five against Stalybridge Celtic.

“We were playing the future champions here today I truly believe that. I tipped them to win it at the start and now my opinion is no different. They are a quality side; young, bright, organised. And they’ve got a top manger in Jim Harvey, they’re definitely going places.”

Despite being satisfied with his team’s performance, Drury admits to being frustrated over more missed chances.

“We had three or four chances to get that goal again. We should have went back in front, but Gulliver missed an easy header. Molly put one over the bar and Smithy’s been put through a few times as well. For all Stalybridge’s possession, I think we actually had the better chances.

I think the extra time we played on Wednesday definitely had an affect on our game. We’re not looking for excuses, but there were a few tired limbs out there today and I think it showed in our performance.”

Corby now have a full week to recover from their double header, with their third round FA Cup with Budwiser qualifying match against Hednesford set to take place on Saturday 15^th October.

“It’ll be good to give the lads a bit of a rest, a few of them are like the walking wounded at the moment. We won’t have too hard a session this week either, we’ll mainly work on our shape, so we’ll be well rested and ready to take on Hednesford for a place in the next round.”