ALAN Devonshire says he won't hesitate to make changes to his Braintree Town squad when the transfer window re-opens in January.
The Iron were beaten 2-1 by lower league Havant & Waterlooville in the FA Trophy on Tuesday night and, after results conspired against them, they've now dropped to bottom of the Blue Square Bet Premier table.
The manager says he is already preparing 'two or three' transfer targets for the new year and hinted his patience is wearing thin with some members of his squad.
"If players become available that are better than what we've got then I've got to get them in," he said.
"It's okay being loyal to a certain extent but if people aren't doing it then you've got to get people in that want to do it and that's something we'll look at in January."
Havant took the lead on 16 minutes when Sam Habergham brought down winger Christian Nanetti just inside the area and the victim picked himself up to slot home the resultant penalty past keeper Danny Naisbitt.
The Iron went two goals behind on 37 minutes when Stefan Bailey nipped in at the far post between Naisbitt and Dean Wells to head the ball into the net.
The second half did see some welcome improvement with Sean Marks finally scrambling the ball over the line for a goal on 51 minutes.
Braintree pushed for an equaliser but it never came.
Devonshire was furious with his team's first half performance at the Amlin Stadium and for the first time in his tenure let rip at his players in the dressing room at half-time.
"I haven't really had to do this at Braintree but it's something I've cooled down over the years but it's my passion coming through," he said.
"It was similar to the hairdryer treatment, well something like that. A few home truths were told at half time and we improved in the second half."
Captain Kenny Davis says his side simply struggled to get going.
"We didn't start playing until the final 15 minutes of the first half," he said.
"The gaffer had every right to have a go at us and we didn't get the result we wanted."
Tomorrow Devonshire takes his side to Southport as they search for a first league win in nearly a month with Brad Quinton (calf) and Sam Habergham (knee) struggling to be fit.
He said: "They've signed a few players and they had a good win at Stockport on Saturday. We did well up there last year but there are no gimmies in the league and that's what makes it so exciting."
Davis said: "I believe that we're much better than what we're showing at the moment league-wise and we've got to make sure these's next few games really count."
