INTERVIEW | Moore says RCA defeat is an 'eye opener'

The Hornets were knocked out the Emirates FA Cup in the extra preliminary round following an impressive Sunderland RCA performance.

"It was an eye opener," first-team manager Daniel Moore stated.

"The best team won on the day - they deserved it and probably could've had more.

"We didn't do the basic rights - I've learned more from this game than I have all pre-season.

"I want to apologise to the supporters - it's an eye opener for me and all the players.

"We've got quality in the squad but we can't just turn up and expect to win, we've got to earn that right.

"We were miles off for the full 90 and it wasn't good enough - it's not what my teams are built on and I don't accept that."

In particular, Moore emphasised his side's work rate during the defeat.

"We were too slow," he stated.

"We can't blame the pitch since it was the same for them.

"We didn't move the ball quick enough, we didn't draw the opposition out - it looked as though we were waiting for someone else to do it.

"It's not what we've seen in pre-season.

"We didn't have a friendly last week - people have been away and we've questioned players' preparations.

"We've got a big week ahead, we've got to put this to one side - it will bug me because I wanted a good run for the club, but we can't do anything about it now."

The defender also commented on RCA's preparation for the fixture, having already played two competitive games in the Northern League.

"I said before the game they may look sharper in spells," Moore added.

"Overall though, we should be there or thereabouts.

"Mark Davison absolutely dominated our back four, the build-up play was too slow and decision making wasn't good enough - there's no dressing that up."

Moore gave an update on absent players as Jack Donaghy, Will McCamley and Joe Walton didn't feature in the matchday squad.

"Joe's away which is a shame," he said.

"He's been to every pre-season session so it was unfortunate to miss him.

"Jack and Will are currently suspended so they couldn't play.

"I'm hopeful of bringing in someone - I'm speaking to a player next week.

"To carry out what we want to do, we may need to look at one or two more.

"We're not here to drift through the season, we're here to get the club promoted.

"We want to build something over the next few seasons, and we're not going to build anything with performances like that."

With a league opener at Brighouse Town next weekend, the Hebburn manager insisted he'll be working on defensive duties in training.

"It's a massive week ahead," Moore previewed.

"I've said to the lads, everyone needs to be focused in training.

"We'll do some work on defending because that's where we're weak, we conceded three goals.

"Our forwards didn't get much service - we need to tighten up at the back and build our team off clean sheets.

"That's what I'm all about - we need to be getting between 15 and 20 clean sheets this year to be around that play-off area."