Mark Butler has issued an ultimatum to his Carshalton Athletic squad - improve at Kingstonian on Saturday or else.

Butler was fuming after the Robins slumped to a 2-1 defeat at Harrow Borough on Tuesday night, despite taking a first half lead through Chris Henry.

And the Carshalton boss was in no mood to pull any punches.

Butler said: “Normally I do everything I can to protect the players but Tuesday was just not good enough.

“The second half was the worst performance I have seen since I came to the club.

“I told the players that in no uncertain terms and I hope they got the message.

“They made some horrendous mental decisions and we showed far too much fear.

“We decided to go into a slugfest late on and we are not that sort of team.

“If you adopt that style you are going to get floored and we did.

“I have told them to bring their running shoes to training on Thursday as I will be working them hard and I fully expect a reaction at the weekend.”

The midweek reverse came on the back of Saturday’s 0-0 draw with AFC Hornchurch with the Robins surviving despite Anthony Joseph’s dismissal.

And Butler admits the back-to-back disappointments have quelled expectations somewhat.

He added: “We have dropped down the table a little bit but we have not become a poor side overnight.

“The trouble we seem to have is when we come up against the mid-table sides.

“The players are up for the big games and the big crowds, which is why I think we will bounce back at Kingstonian.

“But we have no one in the side who takes charge of things when they are going wrong or gets people motivated and that is what is really hurting us at the moment.”

Carshalton Athletic’s next three games: Jan 29 Kingstonian (a), Feb 5 Folkestone (h), 12 Bury Town (a)