ABERYSTWYTH Town manager Matthew Bishop is looking for his side to restore confidence levels when they take on local rivals Penrhyncoch in the Nathaniel MG Cars Cup at Cae Baker tonight (Wednesday, ko 7.45pm).

After back-to-back away wins at Airbus UK Broughton and Llandudno, the Seasiders succumbed to a 3-1 midweek defeat at Rhyl and then crashed to a 4-0 defeat at high-flying Bangor last weekend.

With their first scheduled match on the new 3G pitch at Park Avenue still five weeks away, against Rhyl on Friday 14 October, it promises to be another challenging month for Aber.

Bishop’s side play their first ‘home’ fixture against Carmarthen Town at Newtown’s Latham Park on Saturday (ko 2.30pm) - and they will be relieved to have avoided another long midweek trip tonight.“We played at Llandudno on Sunday, had 48 hours rest, and then went to Rhyl,” commented the Aberystwyth Town manager after their defeat on Saturday.

“Some of the players did not get home until 3am on Wednesday night, and then travelled to Bangor on Saturday. I’m not sure the week we’ve had has caught up with the players, and unfortunately we have picked up two injuries as well.”

Captain Luke Sherbon (groin) and midfielder Joe Clarke (knee) picked up injuries last weekend, after Jack Rimmer and Cledan Davies were both loaned out, to Penrhyncoch and Caersws respectively.

Bishop added: “We have got another game on Wednesday, and we are going to have to manage the small squad that we have got already. We’ve got to dust ourselves off, and get something out of it.”

Eager to put their last two results behind them, Bishop will be looking for this team to tighten up at the back and find more cutting edge in front of goal.

“I’m disappointed, and the players are disappointed,” said Bishop. “Losing by four goals away from home is tough for us to take.

“I think we started quite well, but when they scored their goal it deflated the players a bit.

“I thought we were lacking in the final third, and it’s a common theme. We have got to find a way to take the chances that we are creating.

“Rhyl was one of those games where, if we had taken our chances, we might have got something out of it. They have had a good 10 minutes, and they have taken their chances.

“Take nothing away from the lads, it has been five tough away games. It was Bangor’s fifth home game, and they have won four of them and drawn the other one. But we’ve got to do what we need to do, and take our chances.

“We’ve got to approach our next five away games and get confidence levels back in the players. I’ve said to them not to beat themselves up. We are disappointed and don’t like conceding goals, but we’ll move on to the next game and work hard to find solutions.”