Guernsey FC boss Tony Vance seeing improvements in his side

Tony Vance's side have seen an upturn in performances in recent weeks

Guernsey FC manager Tony Vance says he is seeing improvements in his side after their 2-1 loss at high flying Northwood on Saturday.

Guernsey let in two first-half goals in quick succession at Isthmian League South Central's third-placed side.

But they fought back after the break and had chances to nick a point.

"I think the last four games we've had two wins and two near misses where we've had difficult circumstances, but competed," Vance told BBC Guernsey.

"Ultimately prior to that we weren't competing at all, so we're not doing too bad.

"We're in a very low position and we need to do better for sure, but we've got two home games coming up, which is massively important to us, so hopefully we can get a positive result and start pushing out of the dogfight that we're in."

Guernsey have risen from bottom of the table to third-from-bottom in recent weeks after back-to-back home wins over Sutton Common Rovers and South Park, before an ill-tempered home loss to Marlow last week.

But Vance was quick to praise his squad that travelled to Northwood, especially after two players pulled out late on.

"We got to the airport at 0545 and I checked my phone after I'd checked in and two of our players had messaged me to say they'd dropped out through illness, so we were left with 12 players to travel, which is not a great start," he explained after the game.

"But the lads who are here did really well.

"The first goal was an awful one to give away because anyone that sees the footage will see what happened, unfortunately the player handballed it on the line and put it in, but the linesman was watching then different game.

"Ultimately that first goal is so crucial, particularly away from home and even more so when you've only got one sub.

"But second half we did really well, changed the shape a little bit - I wish we'd done it earlier and I'm disappointed in myself and it made a massive difference to us as we managed to compete - and nicked a goal at the end to make it a little bit wobbly for them, but it wasn't enough.

"It wasn't a great result, but performance-wise there wasn't much between the teams."