SIMON Anderson is urging his Oxford City Stars side to stay calm after suffering a second successive defeat.

A squad depleted by injuries and suspensions paid for a poor second period as they went down 6-3 at Slough Jets in National League Division 1 South.

It came a week after a loss against Streatham Redhawks, who they visit on Sunday.

But they travelled to Slough with five players on the sidelines, including netminder Milan Ronai and imports Ruslan Cernych and David Manning.

Anderson said: “We are going through a rough patch, but I think the main contributing factors are our injuries and suspensions.

“I believe if all teams in this league had their goalie and three or four other top guys out, they would find it difficult too.

“Obviously if the form continues when we have everyone available, we will need to address the situation, but right now we are sticking together and working through this tough time.

“The spirit in the locker room is strong and everyone is together.

“It’s crucial not to panic and we look forward to getting our missing guys back and showing everyone the real Oxford City Stars.”

Slough took an early lead, before the Stars equalised through Mike Whillock.

The score was deadlocked at the end of the first period, but Slough hit four goals in the second 20-minute spell to leave the Stars 5-1 down going into the final period.

Oxford stepped up a gear in the third period and Matt Lawday and captain Josh Florey both got on the score sheet. But it was not enough to overcome a strong Slough side.

“We started slowly, but I thought the early goal from them woke us up,” said Anderson.

“We played well in the first period and could have been ahead if we had taken our chances.

“We lost the game in the second. We were sloppy and lost our shape too much and it cost us.

“To be successful we have to stick to what we are good at.”

He added: “It was a great response in the third period which demonstrated what we are capable of when we play our game.

“Even though we did not win the game, we did enough good things for us to have confidence to take into our games ahead.”