FC Halifax Town: Kosylo admits his confidence has dipped during troubling times

But the virtuoso midfielder admits his confidence has taken a dip amid his team’s poor form that led to manager Billy Heath’s departure last week.

Town have generally played well this season when Kosylo has played well; Halifax’s best form this season of six wins from eight games between August 19 to September 23 coincided with five goals in six appearances for Kosylo.

The former Nantwich man has found the net twice in five games since returning from a medial ligament injury, but when asked what he thought had caused the team’s poor form that led to Heath’s dismissal, he said: “I don’t think anything changed. For me personally, it’s down to a lack of confidence at the minute.

“I can’t speak on behalf of the other players but it was evident last Tuesday (against Leyton Orient) that a lot of the balls we were getting from the back were nervy, were going out of play, we didn’t play much football, I was giving the ball away a lot and it just culminates in a lot of things.

“You get bad results and you start worrying about conceding rather than thinking about scoring. It just becomes a bit negative.

“But nothing specifically changed, nothing made us have the form we’ve had.”

When asked what his reaction was when he heard Heath had left, Kosylo said: “I was a bit shocked. You don’t really ever expect it until it happens, unless there’s some serious unrest in the camp, but there wasn’t.

“It was just basically down a bit of bad form, not getting enough results and the fans not being happy with what they were seeing.

“That’s down to the players and the management, but it’s unfortunate that in this day and age it’s the manager who gets the bullet.

“It’s happened, it is what it is now and we’ve got to go out and perform.”

Kosylo retains belief that Town can stay up this season.

He added: “We were in good form earlier in the season and we know what we’ve got in that changing room.

“We wouldn’t have been in and around the play-offs earlier this season if we were a seriously bad team. We wouldn’t have got promotion if we were mentally weak.

“I’ve got confidence in my own ability and I’m sure every other lad in the changing room has.

“I’m sure we’ll pull together. We’re four points clear rather than four points adrift, so that’s another positive.

“It’s in our own hands so we need to go out there and do what we need to do.”

The winger won his first piece of silverware under Heath by helping Town to promotion from the Conference North, and loved his time under Heath’s tutelage.

“I wouldn’t say I wasn’t a winner (before working with Heath) because I’ve always had that in me and I show that on the pitch, I wear my heart on my sleeve,” Kosylo said.

“He got me my first medal last year with the promotion. We had a good group of winners and I thoroughly enjoyed being part of that, just as I’ve enjoyed this season. I just need to get out of the rut - in terms of confidence - that I’m in at the moment.

“I told him that I’ve appreciated the last season-and-a-half with him so he knows what he’s done for me.”

Asked where the club now goes from here, Kosylo added: “It’s down to the board of directors which route they take - either plan for the long-term of look to the short-term with someone who’s got a track record of keeping people up.

“It depends on the style of play they want, long-term or short-term - there’s a lot of factors they need to think about.

“Let’s just hope they do it quickly but without rushing it and making a snap decision, which I don’t think they will.”