UNHAPPY manager Phil Mullen bemoaned Bewdley Town’s bad luck this week after his side lost out 2-1 to Wellington in the West Midlands League Cup when going down to the last kick of the match, writes Nick Pullen.

Bewdley’s task was made that much tougher as they could only muster a bare 11 players and had no substitutes to call upon.

And Mullen pulled no punches afterwards when he insisted: “Players let us down again at the last minute which is a situation I just find unacceptable.

“I had to bring in two 18-year-old players in left-back Jordan Graham and striker James Smith for their debuts.

“In total, I had four 18-year-olds playing and none of them looked out of place.

“On Tuesday lunchtime, I had four substitutes, then players started pulling out.

“We’d switched the fixture to Wellington’s ground just to get the game on and I get the impression some of the players didn’t want to travel on a Tuesday night.

“Things have to change! If I’d been given 24 hours’ notice, I could have signed a couple of players. But when people leave it until the afternoon, it just isn’t on. You look at the faces of the players who do turn up and you can see they feel let down by their team-mates.

“The annoying thing against Wellington was the fact we were much the better side and we missed some sitters. I was already thinking about penalties when Wellington went and scored from a free-kick. I couldn’t fault the players who gave me everything on the night.

“But you cannot turn up to play a top eight side at this level with limitations.”