BOBBY Wilkinson revealed he would hold nothing against his players for deciding to protect a slender 1-0 lead before falling to a 2-1 defeat at Hemel Hempstead.

With tiring legs and a lead to defend, the Terras were hemmed in for the final 15 minutes after Jack Westbrook’s own goal.

With time ticking down, Wilkinson urged his players to push into Hemel’s third but the Tudors maintained territory and netted two late goals through debutant George Williams.

Speaking to uptheterras.co.uk, Wilkinson defended his players.

READ MORE: Hemel Hempstead 2-1 Weymouth - report

He said: “You need to get up the park quicker and suck them into their final third. I don’t think we’ve done that enough in the second half.

“But I understood what the boys were trying to do, they just didn’t want to concede.

“We had a couple of good chances to make it 2-0. When you’re away from home with ten minutes to go at any level you’re going to have to try and hold on.

“We tried everything in our power to win but, once again, the boys have worked extremely hard and given everything.

“As a group we must keep believing and staying together. We’re one game away (from exiting the drop zone).

“We’ve got to regroup and be ready for St Albans.”

Wilkinson also highlighted the performance of striker Nahum Melvin-Lambert after his first start for the club.

He said: “I thought he was really good, a presence. He was tiring with 15 minutes to go but I thought he still might get us something.

“He hasn’t played a lot of men’s football in the last few weeks but I thought he did really well.”

Weymouth host the Saints on Saturday (3pm).