DEFIANT boss Tom Killick insisted he would stick with the nucleus of his Poole Town squad following another defeat.

Dolphins’ wretched run continued when they went down 2-0 at Welling United on Saturday, condemning them to a fifth reverse in six games.

And although Killick admitted the mood in the camp was “unhappy”, he said he was determined not to make drastic changes in a bid to turn around their dismal form.

He told the Daily Echo: “We have had heartbreaking moments but, in terms of a run of results, there is nothing that has ever come close to compare with this.

“Suddenly, you are in a run like this and you start doubting everything you have ever done.

“Sometimes, it’s easy to completely change things that have worked consistently over the years.

“It’s almost easy for me to say ‘right, the pure fact of the matter is this group of players are not good enough’, therefore, you pretty much change as many of the players as you can.

“There has to be a balance. You have to try to change things to a degree but you can go too far the other way and rip up everything.

“Why would you do that when it has brought us a lot of success over the years?

“I am not prepared to do that. I will stick, by and large, by this group of players and, if it ends up being the end of me, it will be the end of me. That is how I will deal with it.”

Poole were denied what Killick believed should have been a penalty after Warren Bentley had gone down in the area in the first half.

The visitors also hit the post in the first half and the ball ricocheted to safety.

And with the game goalless at the interval, Welling then struck twice in the second period to seal the three points.

Elijah Phipps opened the scoring on 54 minutes before Joe Healy wrapped up the game for the Wings 19 minutes from time.

Killick added: “When morale is low, there are 20 unhappy footballers, an unhappy manager, an unhappy assistant manager and an unhappy coach. It’s not an amazing place to be.

“There are spells where things are unhappy or difficult but you just have to try to stick with it and that’s what we are determined to do.

“In some ways, it’s a big challenge. It tests you far more than anything else.”

Will Spetch was forced off with a groin problem and is unlikely to feature when Poole visit Wealdstone tomorrow (7.45pm).

Shaun Cooper is also a doubt and Ollie Harfield is unavailable.

Dolphins: Hutchings, Cooper (Lee, 56), Smeeton, Spetch (Lindsay, 40), Whisken, Pettefer (Balmer, 75), Dickson, Devlin, Bentley, Bedford, Harfield. Unused subs: Moore, Baggie.