JOHN Coventry says East Thurrock United will not feel sorry for themselves as they bid to turn around their form and reach the Essex Senior Cup semi-final.

Rocks have lost three of the last four matches, including the league clash against Concord Rangers at the start of the year.

The two play again tonight in the last eight of the competition, with Coventry again without a number of first team stars.

But he says he will not be using that as an excuse, following Saturday’s 4-0 reverse against Braintree Town in the National League South.

“We had a game plan against Braintree and carried it out in the first 20 minutes,” he said. “We had five opportunities in that time and we missed all of them. And Braintree did what a good side does and capitalised on that. They scored three quick goals and it was over at half-time.

“I am looking at the defensive side of things and I have nowhere near a full squad. Guys are out of position and we are short of confidence.

“But you can feel sorry for yourself or do something about it on the pitch.”

Coventry says he cannot afford the luxury of rotation ahead of Saturday’s FA Trophy second round clash against Chester, although loan midfielder Harry Phipps will be available for both cup matches.

And he remains confident of progression against Concord tonight.

“Rotation is a word that makes me laugh at the moment,” said Coventry. “I am on the phone constantly asking how my injured players recovery is going but it is highly unlikely people will be back tonight.

“We went into the last game against a confident Concord and I don’t know how we lost that game but that match has gone now.

“None of us are thinking about the Chester game yet. It doesn’t matter about the competition, I want a change to what has been going wrong, a change to the present tone.

“We have Harry Phipps for 28 days and he will be important for us in the next month.”