"We've still got quality, we just need to show it more" - Florent Hoti on Maidenhead, Town's slump in form and the play-offs

It was The Shaymen's third win on the spin - their ninth win in 15 games - and despite losing some key players to injury, they looked to be cruising towards the play-offs.

Fast forward four weeks and Town have only scored once in the six games since and have earned just two points from a possible 18, as well as picking up injuries to more key men.

"The gaffer says at the start of every year that we usually don't start each season too well because there's so many changes, with so many players coming in and out of the squad," Hoti said.

"And it's a bit like that, it's as if we've had a summer transfer window really.

"We've had a lot of injuries, and to key players. Look no further than Sam Johnson, sometimes he might not speaking the most but just having him there, that calming body.

"He's experienced, he's been here nine, ten years, played however many games.

"A lot of the boys don't have much experience, and the ones that do, like myself, maybe we need to step up.

"You are maybe used to playing with a Will Smith or a Jack Evans and Scott High in midfield.

"It's about creating partnerships, but maybe we just have to get through this rough patch of games where we're just getting to know each other.

"It's at the stage of the season where we need wins, but maybe we just need to get through this and it'll click.

"I'm sure it will.

"You've got Zak (Emmerson), who's come in more since Billy (Waters) left, Luca (Thomas) has come in, so has Daniel (Nkrumah), but they're young boys.

"It's working out how each player moves, do they want it to feet or in-behind?

"It's little things like that where connections are important in football, and people don't really see it.

"That'll come with time, hopefully sooner rather than later.

"We've got four games to go so it needs to happen quickly, but I do think it will happen and hopefully it happens at Fylde on Friday."

Town's latest stumble in their play-off bid was last Saturday's 2-0 home defeat to relegation-threatened Maidenhead.

"Just disappointed really, frustrated," was Hoti's verdict.

"First-half, we weren't good enough.

"I know the pitch is tough but both sets of teams have to play on it.

"They were a bit more direct, but we can't keep using that as an excuse.

"We need to have a bit more quality on the ball.

"We created chances in the second-half, it's just about putting them away, maye creating more.

"And we need to keep it tight at the back. I don't think they really had much in the second-half, but we concede a rubbish goal from a throw-in, they win the second ball and score.

"So it's really frustrating, especially looking at our form.

"We've got injuries but that's no excuse, we've still got quality with the boys who are playing, we just need to show it more."

And Hoti believes there is enough quality in the squad for Town to make the play-offs and then be successful in them.

"I'm always going to back the team," he said.

"Look at the other teams and how many of them are losing games.

"Teams all around us have the same problem.

"Teams like Maidenhead might look easier on paper, but they're the ones fighting for their lives.

"I know it's not an excuse because we should be fighting for our lives as well, but those teams are sometimes more difficult to play against because they're not going to make it easy, they're going to play the percentages - especially on that pitch.

"We have to get it down and play whereas they'll be more direct.

"Forest Green, Gateshead, York, they've all had a slump in form at points, everyone around us has faced the same problems."

Problems to which Hoti says the squad are trying to find the answers.

"Some of the games, the stats might show we haven't run as much as we should, but there's a lot of different factors," he said.

"Maybe the quality wasn't as it should have been on Saturday, but I think it happens to all teams.

"I mean, we talk about injuries but we could have still had this form without the injuries.

"Even with everyone available, this could still have happened because seasons have ups and downs.

"So we can't just point the finger at injuries, as much as it feels like we need them back, we can't look at that because we could have been losing games with everyone fit."

So how do Town get out of their current slump and get their play-off bid back on track?

"Just sticking by what the gaffer and Coops say, because they're really good at what they do," Hoti said.

"All the staff are. Every game we go into, everything they tell us, it turns out to be true.

"Whether it's the formations, whether it's set-pieces.

"We look at stats a lot and they all turn out to be true, how the games turn out.

"We knew we had to score first on Saturday because of the stats on Maidenhead, and going in at half-time 0-0, I thought second-half, I feel we tend to play better second-half and I thought we did that.

"It was just unfortunate they got their goal before us and once they get ahead, it's always going to be difficult.

"It's just about listening to the gaffer and the coaching staff, and sticking together.

"Yes, some of us might be down but we can't let it get to us because games are coming thick and fast now and they're big games as well.

"We're already in the play-offs so it might only take a couple of wins to stay in there, although obviously we want to win all of them, and then take the play-offs as they come."

For Hoti, the scars of last season's brief play-off campaign are still there, when Halifax lost 4-2 at Solihull Moors, and he'd love a chance to avenge that heartache this time round.

"Everyone knows what we went through last year with the fixture congestion, it was really tough," he said.

"I came out of hospital and played two days later, and a lot of boys were similar, with injuries or carrying knocks.

"Jack Evans played on the Thursday, then came to hospital with me, because he was sharing a room with me on the Friday, travelled to Eastleigh and put in a really good performance when we won 3-0.

"So we are a bunch that will dig in and we just want to put it right this season.

"At Solihull, it was an inch off Rob Harker's header going in and if it had, we'd probably won it.

"It's fine magins.

"There might be a lot of new lads, especially with all the injuries, but it's maybe up to us more senior boys that have been here last year to get around the new players and tell them what it's like because we've played 40 games and worked hard as a team.

"We need to make sure we get in there first and foremost, otherwise all that hard work will go to nothing, and we don't want that."