STEVE Hollick must find a quick cure for AFC Totton’s defensive ills after another catastrophic early collapse at Larkhall Athletic last night.

For the second game running, the Stags’ game plan went straight out of the window as goals in the fourth and eight minutes sentenced them to a 2-0 Southern One South & West defeat.

It was a depressing case of déjà-vu for Hollick’s men having suffered a similar fate when Shortwood struck twice in seven minutes at the Testwood Stadium last Saturday.

Having extensively rebuilt the squad during the summer, Hollick had been hoping for a bright start to the new campaign after an encouraging pre-season.

Instead the Stags go into Saturday's home game against Didcot Town scarred by three defeats and a draw in their opening four games.

“We’re struggling to defend with any real quality at the moment and that’s twice in two games we’ve conceded early,” said Hollick.

“I don’t think it’s a concentration issue. Our warm-up’s the same and Tuesday was the first time we’d played the same back four two games running.”

Losing three of their more experienced defenders – James Roden (knee), Luke Dempsey (knee) and Marc Diaper (calf) – hasn’t helped Totton’s cause.

“We’ve got young lads at the back who are not the most vocal. They’re good individually but, as a team, we’re looking a bit frail defensively,” said Hollick.

“(Winger) Mike Gosney was out with a bad back last night, so we were able to set up a bit more defensively, yet we were still two down in eight minutes.

“All your plans go out of the window and you’re forced to make substitutions you wouldn’t otherwise have made because you’re chasing the game. It’s not ideal.

“We’re stuttering a bit going forward too. We’re just not firing on all cylinders at the moment.”

Hollick, though, says the mood in the camp is far from downbeat.

“There’s no panic,” he said. “There’s still a lot of belief and confidence in the dressing room, but when you fall behind so early it knocks the stuffing out of you.”

Gosney and Diaper will both have late fitness tests ahead of ninth-placed Didcot's visit, but Roden and Dempsey are still out and defender Tony Rolls (back) and striker Mark Lilley (knee) are struggling.

“Now we’ve got physio Dave Penny on board, everyone’s injured,” sighed Hollick, who is working on getting a new defensive recruit on board.