MAGPIES’ chief Mark Jermyn held his hands up for an early switch he believes “may have disrupted things” as his side fell to a 4-1 defeat at Slough Town last night.

The Avenue boss decided to remove Tony Lee, who had filled in at centre-half for the opening 20 minutes at Holloways Park, in place of Matt Oldring, who had got stuck in traffic en route to the ground.

Five minutes after the substitution, Dorchester found themselves 2-0 down.

Jermyn told Echosport: “I think the way we approached the game at the start wasn’t great. We have people out injured and we had to reshuffle the pack.

“Jack Alexander made his debut and we had to start him at centre-half. We also had to start Tony Lee at centre-half and, unfortunately, Matt was delayed in traffic.

“We had to make the change as soon as possible because we were under so much pressure. We tried to recuperate and get some shape but I think that it was a massive learning curve for myself.

“I should have stood by the decision we made at the start, regardless if we were winning or losing. I felt that the change may have disrupted things.

“I think the outcome (to make the early switch) was more of a negative than a positive unfortunately. That was my fault.

“Everything that happens is ultimately down to me. I do rely on Nick (Crittenden) and Stuart (Heath) a lot but, at the end of the day I am the manager and I take responsibility for the change and I can assure you it won’t happen again.”

Reflecting on the game itself, in which Jermyn also revealed Chris Dillon missed out due to a recurrence of a groin problem, he added: “I think in the first half they were the stronger side but all but one of their goals were individual errors.

“Unfortunately that’s something you can’t legislate for.

“As much as it is a defeat and it does hurt us. I feel it is a massive learning curve for myself and the group.”