Failings at both ends of the pitch to blame for Knaresborough Town's winless start to the season

The Manse Lane club ended a run of three consecutive defeats when they drew 3-3 at Pickering Town last week, but are already out of the FA Cup and have just two points to their name from a possible 12.

Their slow start is in stark contrast to last term, when they stormed to the top of the NCEL Premier Division standings on their way to securing their highest-ever league finish.

And although he is certain that there is still more than enough time to turn things around, Parkes insists that Boro won’t begin climbing the table until they tighten up at the back and become more clinical in front of goal.

“It’s the polar opposite of where we were last year,” he said. “It’s still very early days just two weeks into the season and there are a lot of points to play for, but the reality is that the results haven’t been good enough.

“I think that we just need to get that all-important first win and when we do I am sure that we will kick on.

"It hasn’t been good enough at either end of the pitch. We haven’t been ruthless enough in front of goal and at the same time, we haven’t made ourselves difficult enough to beat.

"Last season, we built our foundations on being hard to play against and tough to break down. But in these first few games we have been leaking goals.

"The vast majority of these goals have been completely avoidable and been our own doing. We know that we have to tighten up and do much better defensively.”

Knaresborough’s trip to Pickering saw them recover from going two down before the break to seize a 3-2 lead heading into the closing stages of the game.

Alex Ingham halved the deficit shortly after the resumption before Adam Priestley – who missed a first-half penalty – levelled things up on 57 minutes.

Ingham then moved Boro into the lead just past the hour-mark, only for the Pikes to net in the 83rd minute to snatch a share of the spoils.

"When you find yourselves 3-1 down like we were against Parkgate and Penistone, you are facing an uphill battle, and the reality is that it’s always going to be very difficult to get anything out of the game,” Parkes added.

"At Pickering, we were 2-0 down at half-time but in the second 45 we showed that element of character that had maybe been missing in the games preceding that one.

"That second-half performance was tremendous, we got ourselves 3-2 up and should have gone on to get all three points, only to then concede again late on.

"It’s frustrating that we are still waiting for that first win, but if we can continue to get better then I’m sure that result can only be just around the corner.”

Knaresborough, who sit 17th in the NCEL Premier Division standings, return to action on August 21 when they visit Campion.