Wealdstone boss Matt Taylor’s injury concerns continued to grow as his side lost once again in the National League - 1-0 at Gateshead on Saturday.

The Stones were on course for a share of the spoils, but Jovan Malcom’s late strike proved decisive for the hosts.

"I thought we started the game really well and created some fantastic opportunities," Taylor told the club website.

"We took the game to Gateshead, who are one of the top teams in our league. At half-time, it was hard for me to say anything negative to the players because we created some unbelievable chances.

"But again, I'm sitting here talking about missing chances and not winning games, so that's the disappointing thing for me."

After a tough start to the campaign, the former West Ham winger has been up against it with injuries to key players.

"Let’s be perfectly frank, open, and honest: we were missing Sean Adarkwa, Craig Eastmond, Jaydn Mundle-Smith, Adrian Mariappa, and Max Kretzschmar. All five of those are on the team. If you take any of a team’s five best players, you're going to have issues,” he added.

"I want to be as open and honest with the supporters. I thank them for travelling up, they were fantastic. They'll be making the long journey home like we are thinking 'how did we not score today?'

"The players that get opportunities to score have to take them. They were not conceding lots of goals, and that's what's hurting us."

The Stones sit second from bottom in the National League with another relegation battle on the horizon, but Taylor was adamant margins will soon balance out in his favour.

"There comes a point where I have to take accountability for that, and it's on my shoulders," he said.

"What we've got to do is solve that solution, which will be helped when players come back. We're in a tough spot, but we're not playing badly. Every team we play gets that half chance, and they take it. We have to be better.

"This isn't me hanging the players out to dry; this is me saying we've got to be better; we've all got to be better. There comes a point where the value of overhitting a cross, missing a pass, and not hitting the target means more, but I can't be disappointed in the overall performance.

"We've now lost two in five; two of those we were winning into injury time. I'm aware of the issue, and we are trying to fix it. The players have taken on the game plan really well, and they're working really hard. But the one thing no one can shy away from is that we're creating chances and not taking them."

The Stones will now look ahead to their FA Cup fourth qualifying round tie with Gosport Borough this Saturday, before the National League schedule resumes a week later when Yeovil Town arrive at Grosvenor Vale.