BRANTHAM Athletic skipper Ed Nobbs has challenged his team to react positively and show their character against Woodbridge Town tonight.

The Imps had a rare off-day after crashing to a 4-1 defeat at FC Clacton, on Tuesday.

The sides met in a League Cup second-round tie and after scoring three times in the last four minutes - and twice in stoppage-time - the Seasiders marched on under the Rush Green Bowl floodlights.

Now Nobbs says he and his team-mates have to step up and respond well, knowing they could climb to second in the Thurlow Nunn League premier division if they see off the Woodpeckers.

“It wasn’t good enough the other night and it’s as simple as that," he said.

“Clacton were clinical and took their chances but collectively, as a team, we have to be better.

“The good thing for us is that the next game comes quickly.

“We have to have a reaction, as a group.

“We have to go out there and perform better because I don’t think any of us could have walked off the pitch and say we did enough.

“There has to be a reaction and what happened was probably a wake-up call, to be honest, and something that’s been coming for a few weeks.

“We haven’t been playing well but we’ve been getting away with it.

“We weren’t at our best on Saturday, for instance, when we beat Framlingham 2-1.

"It was the same when we won at Hadleigh.

“There’s no point beating around the bush, although we've got a chance to go second in the table by winning tonight, so it's a good opportunity to react and show a bit of character."

At one point it looked like a penalty shoot-out could be needed on Tuesday, with the contest delicately poised at 1-1.

Instead, Clacton finished with a flourish and in addition to Jake Plane’s late brace – adding to his earlier free-kick – Adam Hampson was also on target for the Seasiders.

The hosts took the lead just before half-time.

Plane came up trumps with an unstoppable free-kick from just outside the box.

Brantham restored parity after a lapse in concentration by Seasiders keeper Joe Fowler, fumbling a corner into his own net.

However, Hampson produced a clinical finish four minutes from time after Harry McDonald’s thunderbolt shot was only parried by Imps keeper Ben Mayhew.

Plane then made the tie safe before winning and converting a penalty right at the death, putting the gloss on an excellent victory.

“It probably wasn’t a 4-1 and that flattered Clacton," added Nobbs.

“But at the same time we can’t be under any illusions because we weren’t good enough.

“For an hour, we probably dominated in terms of possession, without really creating a clear-cut chance.

“Then in the last half an hour we pushed bodies forward and made mistakes.

“They were simple, individual errors that shouldn’t have happened.

“We’ve got quite a few youngsters and inexperienced boys but if we want to do well at this level we have to show a bit of character.

“This is the kick up the backside we maybe needed to push on."

Brantham came from behind after an early penalty was converted by visitors Framlingham, on Saturday.

Joe Yaxley capitalised after a blunder by the visitors’ keeper before Craig Hughes grabbed what proved the winner, after good work from Jack Madley and Elliott Johnson.