John Maggs has responded to criticism of his struggling side by asking supporters to 'show their true colours' and get behind the team as they strive to bounce back from their recent poor run of form.

Tuesday's defeat at Barton Rovers was the latest in a series of defeats that leaves the Hornets out of the major cup competitions and just 3 points outside the relegation places.

"It's just one thing after another at the moment," bemoaned Maggs. "We're having a torrid time of it and it seems that, as soon as we solve one problem, something else happens. We've been poor at times, there's no denying that, but I think we've suffered from some very poor refereeing decisions lately and that's why I'm asking our supporters to stick with us because we're all in this together.

I've always been quick to praise our fans, and rightly so, but I don't want them to rub salt in to the wounds by turning against us because that's not going to help us get through this spell. Everyone's entitled to their opinions, I know that, but it's easy to support a team when it's winning things and its when we're on a downer that their support can be invaluable.

Maybe the expectations have been raised because of the success we've had in the last few seasons but we might have to tolerate a period where it doesn't go right for us. These are certainly difficult times for the club. We've had to move out of Queen Street, spent a year at Worthing and, although we're back in Horsham, we don't have a ground of our own which is far from ideal. Players have had to take a cut in wages, we've had injuries, suspensions and all kinds of distractions off the field so let's please have your true support so that we can get through these bad times. I'm a survivor. I've had blips like this before and we've come through them and I'm confident that we'll do so again."