Teddy Sheringham said he is starting to sound like a broken record and admitted that Stevenage need drastic improvement all over the pitch.

The 49-year-old was speaking after his side lost 2-1 to Dagenham & Redbridge in the first round of the Johnstone Paint Trophy on Wednesday night.

Goals from Ashley Chambers and evergreen striker, Jamie Cureton, put the Daggers two-up before a late penalty form Ben Kennedy gave Stevenage brief hope.

The defeat was Boro’s fifth straight loss and sixth without a win.

Sheringham said: “It’s getting a bit of a habit to come out and say it’s not quite good enough.

“We are struggling as a team. We need to do better all over the pitch. It’s tough going at the moment.”

He also said there was “a deathly response” when he mentioned the amount of goals conceded in the second half.

“We’ve let in 16 or 17 goals up to tonight,” he said. “So there was a couple more to add to the tally tonight.

“Jamie Cureton’s finish was good, I don’t know if it was offside but you don’t get the rub of the green when you’re struggling.”

He did say there were a couple of bright spots in the performances of youngsters Tom Conlon and goalscorer, Kennedy.

He said: “I want players on the ball who can express themselves.

“It’s not the case with everybody at the moment – but Tommy Conlon and Ben are happy to be out there playing football at the moment and enjoying themselves.

“Of course there are aspects to their games that they can work on if I’m being hypercritical but the fact that they want to get on the ball and express themselves is a good thing for me.”

Kennedy has only just returned after an injury-hit start to the year and said it was good to be back.

He said: “I may have been out a little bit longer if we had been playing well but we’re are on a bad spell at the moment and I just wanted to get back and help the lads as quickly as I could and do my best for the team.”