Gavin Macpherson will be looking for an immediate reaction to round off 2025 when we visit Hemel Hempstead on Tuesday (kickoff 7.45)  in the first of two successive away games.

The heavy Boxing Day home defeat to Chelmsford was as comprehensive as it was unexpected and something of a wake-up call after a four-game unbeaten run.

The management team will be hoping that all the good work achieved during that spell will not be undone but The Tudors will also be looking for a response after their narrow Boxing Day defeat to Chesham when they went down to 10 men and were undone by what manager Lee Allinson described as a “criminal” refereeing decision.

Hemel have now gone four league games without scoring during which time they have picked up a solitary point. On paper that should work in Town’s favour but we should take it with a pinch of salt given that Chelmsford’s goalscoring record hadn’t exactly been prolific before their demolition job on us.

The fact that Allinson’s team are still eighth in the table and pushing for a playoff place says much about their ambitions, coupled with some seasoned, experienced players in a deep squad.

“Whether Chelmsford was a blip, I’ll be able to answer that better after Hemel,” said Gavin. “The season isn’t over whether or not we achieve the points tally we ideally want over the holiday period. Hemel have taken a bit of a dip recently but before that, as the table shows, they were doing really well. They will be looking to bounce back and I just hope our players can reset themselves and rediscover who they are.”

AW