London APSA boss Zakir Hussain

London APSA boss Zakir Hussain admits his team is facing a “crucial few days” when they visit Clapton on Saturday and entertain Eton Manor on Tuesday.

APSA had a free weekend after suffering a 5-1 home defeat to 10-man Southend Manor in the Gordon Brasted Memorial Trophy last Tuesday.

They prop up the Essex Senior League table after winning one point from their opening two fixtures but now have the opportunity to leapfrog Clapton, who sit one place above them with two points from five matches.

And their manager knows it’s time for his side to kick-start their league season into gear.

Hussain said: “We have a big game against Clapton and the next few days are crucial for us.

“We’ve got to start getting some league points on the board.

“The table can change a lot over the next two or three games if we get the right results.

“Clapton are just one place above us and you’ve got to take advantage of games against sides when they’re struggling.

“It’s very important we get our first league win.”

Taking into account the recent 5-0 defeat at Burnham Ramblers, APSA have conceded 10 goals in their last two outings.

But Hussain believes the 5-1 scoreline in last week’s cup game flattered Southend Manor.

He said: “The scoreline doesn’t reflect the actual game and we didn’t deserve to lose by that amount.

“We matched them in the first half and were disappointed to be 2-1 down at the break.

“The problem is that we don’t make enough of our possession – there’s not enough end-product.

“We missed two good chances in the first half and the game would have looked different if we’d have taken them.

“But we’re not creating enough chances for the amount of possession we have.

“We’ve got to get behind defences rather than playing in front of them.

“Southend were down to 10 men for the second half after having a man sent off and they just sat back and hit us on the counter-attack.

“We showed a lack of concentration at the back and I think I made a mistake in my team selection because there were some tired legs out there in the second half.

“Some of the players had played three games at the UK Asian Football Championships in Glasgow and in retrospect I should have picked some fresher legs.”