GARY Hackett has told his players to learn some harsh lessons after Stourbridge were sent crashing to their heaviest defeat of the season in midweek.

The Glassboys boss was furious that a half-time game-plan to be patient against Hemel Hempstead on Tuesday was ignored and the visitors’ counter-attacking style reaped a 5-1 win at Amblecote.

“It’s a wake-up call, that’s for sure,” said Hackett.

“Sometimes you learn more from a week of losing games than you do in sixth months of winning.

“I felt one or two didn’t show enough respect to the opposition. I said at half-time that we needed to be patient. Certainly one or two players disregarded the game-plan. The players went gung-ho, thinking they would score at will.”

Tuesday’s loss was a third defeat in a row for Stourbridge, which has ended any outside play-off charge, but they still lie comfortably in eighth place in the Zamaretto Premier.

Today, they face the team immediately above them when Chippenham Town visit Amblecote.