LISS Athletic manager Rich Bessey is demanding a change in attitude from his players ahead of their league clash with Paulsgrove on Saturday.

Bessey is preparing to make significant changes to his starting line-up against Paulsgrove, following their defeat last week which he saw to be of his own players’ doing.

“Changes will be made following a very poor attitude shown in our last match against QK Southampton, the mind-set was not good enough.”

Although it was only the second league defeat of the season for Liss so far, Bessey was left outraged by his side’s approach to the match with QK which resulted in a 3-2 defeat. It was not a result which the Athletic manager could argue with.

“It’s a new feeling, having only lost once before and it’s not a nice one but we deserved to lose.”

The defeat to QK Southampton could ultimately be the shock to the system Liss needed, a reminder that complacency on the pitch cannot be afforded.

“We take too long to get into games, we almost just expect the goals will eventually come, which QK punished by going 2-0 up within 11 minutes of the second half.”

Bessey will make his intolerance towards such lax attitudes clear with a much-changed starting 11 to play Paulsgrove. The players will have been warned of the changes in no uncertain terms during midweek training.

The Liss boss expects a feisty affair as his team welcomes Paulsgrove this weekend, the visitors go into this fixture ten positions lower in the league table than the home side.

In spite of a 27-point margin between the two teams, even with Liss having four games in hand over the visitors, Bessey knows the personal rivalries between the players will encourage a very competitive Paulsgrove side.

“Paulsgrove will be a tough match as they’re a very physical side, but our players, particularly from Havant and Leigh Park, will be relishing the challenge given the rivalry of the two areas.”

Bessey believes that while matching Paulsgrove physically will be important, the game will be won in the mind-sets of his players who must play with the right attitude from kick-off right through to the final whistle.

“We need to start much earlier against Paulsgrove, teams like QK and Paulsgrove shouldn’t be able to get near us with our quality, but last week showed what a slow start can do to you.”

The two sides last met in October when cup ties drew Liss and Paulsgrove together in three consecutive matches, with the inclusion of their league fixture. Athletic won all three games: 4-3, 3-1 and 5-0.

The most recent of which was the 4-3 Hampshire Premier League Senior Division win at Marsden Road, which saw Athletic’s Lenny Burney score twice.