GARRY Hill has ordered long-ball Weymouth to stop taking to the skies.

The Terras boss says the Wessex Stadium outfit can forget about Conference South glory if they continue pumping high passes forward like in the midweek defeat at Eastleigh.

Hill wants his players to get back to basics when they try to return to winning ways at new boys Histon tomorrow (3pm).

He said: "I don't want to get overly critical as we are only a few days into the new season but there were quite a few aspects of the defeat at Eastleigh that concerned me.

"The main one was that we played the ball in the air far too much and with little success.

"There is a time and place in football for a good quality high ball, but if done too often it becomes very predictable.

"That was the case at Eastleigh, where we constantly played it very long, and hopefully it will stop.

"In the pre-season games we played some excellent football, getting the ball out wide, which was entertaining for the fans and that's what we have to get back to because it is where our strength lies.

"Unless we vary our play we will become easy to read as a team and that will make life a whole lot harder this season."

Hill added: "It is vital players take individual responsibility on the pitch and that means winning their personal battles with opposition players.

"On Wednesday right from the first minute Eastleigh won those duels, such as their strikers beating our defenders to balls and their midfielders putting us under pressure.

"At times we defended in a sloppy manner especially in the run up to both Ryan Ashford's goals.

"The message we've been drumming into the players over the last couple of days is that we have to earn the right to do well in this league and that means getting the basics right."

The Terras travel to Cambridge-shire with injury doubts surrounding winger Steve Clark and

defender Trevor Challis who was carried off at Eastleigh on Wednesday.

Hill is set to tinker with his starting eleven again, with Tony Taggart in line to replace Challis at left back.

He said: "Like Eastleigh, Histon are another new team in this league and we'll probably find them snapping at our heels from the start.

"They have had a good start to the season, winning and drawing in their two games, so it will be

another tough test.

"But we know what to expect and hopefully my players will learn from their mistakes at Eastleigh, use it as a wake-up call, and get a good result.

"It was very disappointing to lose on Wednesday but the positive thing for us is that only three teams have 100 per cent records after two games.

"That shows the league is likely to be pretty tight again this year so we have to make sure we get in among the leading clubs in the table as soon as we can."