Hitchin Town boss, Mark Burke, says his side "lacked urgency and were too slow" during their loss to relegation-battling Kings Langley on Boxing Day.

After falling behind in the third minute to Wilson De Carvalho’s close-range finish, Burke’s side failed to showcase the form that had seen them sit sixth in Southern League Premier Division Central table.

De Carvalho also scored in second-half stoppage time, either side of James Kaloczi and Chukwuemeka Okoye-Ahaneku’s finishes in the 4-2 loss.

Burke said: "It was a terrible start, we didn’t defend very well all game. They didn’t have that many chances, but with the chances they had they punished us.

"It wasn’t a great performance all round, we huffed and puffed but we had a couple of spells when we looked like we could get into it but didn’t take the initiative.

"If you have a look, they reacted in our box to score and we didn’t do that in their box. Two or three times the ball dropped down waiting to finish and we didn’t have the bodies.

"We lacked urgency and we were too slow sometimes when we were playing the ball out of the back, it is fine moving them around with purpose but we didn’t really do that today."

Along with de Carvalho’s early strike, Hitchin suffered another blow late into the first half through Kaloczi’s header, allowing the away side to slow the tempo of the game down to their pleasure.

He said: "The timing of their goals were bang on so it is hard. We go in at half-time to try and shake them up but Kings Langley have done a number on us.

"As soon as they got the goal, they shut up shop and I don’t know how much time was wasted, but it was an awful lot.

"It wasn’t the most entertaining, but they aren’t worried about entertaining. Where they are in the moment, they are here to get points and get a result and I don’t blame them for that.”

Despite the defeat, on-loan signing Daniel Idiakhoa, who was replacing Bradley Bell, was a bright spark on the right-hand side.

The boss said: I thought he did really well, I thought he was our best player. He looked comfortable and composed, everything he did he did right.

"There are competitions for places and it is now up to Bradley to work hard and get back in the team."