Ely City manager Brady Stone is adamant his side’s season can only get better after a less than impressive start.

The Robins began their first season back in the Thurlow Nunn Premier League with a 2-0 defeat to local rivals Mildenhall Town last Tuesday, before crashing out of the FA Cup at the first time of asking thanks to a 4-1 hammering at the hands of UCL side, Deeping Rangers.

However, Stone has backed his players to bounce back from their heavy loss to Deeping – a performance he has labelled as a “horror show.”

“We haven’t had the best start,” Stone said.

“We’ve had a lot of players out through injury and there’s been a lot of changing around but things can only get better.

“We just weren’t good enough on Saturday.

“We went from a side that looked like a title-winning team to one that looked like they’d never played together.

“We actually started quite well in the first 10 or 15 minutes and then we let them walk through and score the first goal. It was a horror show.

“We always want to do well in the FA Cup – it’s the most well-known competition in the country and it’s always a pleasure and an honour to be involved in it, so on that front we feel like we’ve let the club down.”

Stone has also called on his players to show the fight and courage that secured them a return to the Thurlow Nunn’s top division last season.

“We can’t fear anyone,” he said. “Coming back up a division can be difficult but we need to try and enjoy our football and not be frightened of any team in front of us.”

Ely travel to Ipswich Wanderers in two days’ time for their first away game of the season, and Stone admitted that his squad is still looking thin.

“We’ve still got five or six missing, some through injury and some through holidays, but we’ll have to try and make the most of the squad we’ve got back and bounce back.”