St Albans City manager David Howell is prepared to drop some of his players after their 1-1 draw at lowly Arlesey Town.

The Saints had the better of the match but were reliant on Howard Newton’s injury time equaliser to rescue a point. Howell was frustrated with a number of his players and he is ready to alter the side, if necessary, for their trip to mid-table Frome Town this weekend.

The former Harrow Borough boss said: “I was disappointed with Sakho [Bakare] and Simon [Martin] up front for long periods. Simon is in the side to hold the ball up and link play. Sakho has got to be closer, get in behind and play with him.

"Sakho’s first 45 minutes was disappointing. I accused Sakho and Cedric [Ngakam] of taking a rubbish pill before the game but in the second half they improved. Cedric was a lot better defensively and Sakho should have scored.

“Sakho’s always liable to do something but I said to him I can’t keep waiting. I thought his first-half performance was abysmal. I can only remember one lovely ball out to Howard on the wing but the rest of it he looked disinterested.

“That’s not good enough and we've got Paul Furlong, Sean Shields and Aaron Lansiquot all pushing for a place in the side.

“If we’ve got to change it on Saturday to get the three points at Frome we will do that. The players need to realise they can’t sit back on their laurels and just take things for granted.

“I thought defensively we struggled and they got in down the left hand side too many times including for the goal. Chris Seeby was a little bit out of sorts at right-back.

“He’s had problems with his back and I don’t think Cedric won one header in the first 45 minutes. Defensively I wouldn’t say it was one of our better performances. But credit to the lads because they stuck at it and kept going. In the end we probably nicked a point and threw away [the chance of] three.”

Despite voicing his frustrations, Howell was pleased with his side's character after their persistence earned them a late point at Hitchin Road.

The manager added: “The game was too open for my liking as we tried to get back in the match but if you look at that first period I thought we controlled it and didn’t get a return yet again. Howard could have got a couple.

“To get a goal in the last minute shows the character of the side. We still kept going despite all the opportunities that we created.

“It looked like it wasn’t going to be our day and that we wouldn’t score especially when Howard hit the keeper.

“We were very offensive and the wind was a bit difficult because it was going one way and then the other way the next. I felt Arlesey set up their stall and were content to stop us and counter occasionally.

"I suppose they’ve got to do that in the situation they’re in and that’s just a credit to the players. But the players have to be able to deal with that and I was disappointed we didn’t get a return for the first half.

Arlesey would have been happy with 0-0 at half-time but they went in with a bonus of being 1-0 up. That was our fault regardless of how they set up and played.”

There is a St Albans City team and supporters coach going to Frome Town for the away game this Saturday. The coach will depart at 10.15 am from the Clarence Park entrance to the ground.

To book a seat for the trip call Ian Rogers on 07714 145862 or Barry Hilliard on 07831 859041. The cost is £19 for adults and £11 for juniors.