'I probably criticised them too much' - Baffins Milton Rovers boss Shaun Wilkinson takes blame for dramatic drop in Wessex League Premier form

And the Baffins boss admitted his ‘public criticism’ of the players in a bid to rouse a response on various occasions during dips in form has badly ‘back-fired’.

Wilkinson's men were hammered 5-0 at the PMC Stadium by third-placed Shaftesbury last night to make it nine defeats in their previous 14 league outings.

In that period, Baffins have collected a measly eight points from a possible 42 available to them, which has resulted in a fall from joint-top of the division following a 5-1 home triumph over Bournemouth on January 11 to now sitting eighth in the table.

Yet Wilkinson is refusing to point the finger at his players after what has been a wretched run of form on the back of such a flying start to the season.

Instead, he believes it's been his psychological management methods which have contributed to his side's downfall this term.

The Baffins boss said: ‘We look a spent force at the minute, to be honest. I take the blame for how we've fallen away, it's solely me to blame for that.

‘When we had a bad spell, the first bad spell, I probably publicly criticised them too much.

‘I was looking for a reaction, for them to show me that I was wrong – a few mind games sort of thing – it probably back-fired.

‘I tried to provoke them with what gave me a reaction when I played - I was forever having manager's scream in my face - which worked for me.

‘Today's players, I call them 3G footballers, they're brought up on 3G surfaces, you can't shout at them - the bottom lip goes - they need an arm around them, they need a cuddle, but that's the society of today.’

The first of Baffins' final three Wessex Premier games this term comes at second-bottom Hythe & Dibden on Saturday.

But Wilkinson stressed it should not be all doom and gloom when assessing what has proven a roller-coaster of a season for the club.

He added: ‘Off the pitch, the club is progressing - I'd say we're better than we were last year - but really disappointed in the way we've fallen away.

‘We raised the profile of the club by the way we started. The pre-season schedule we had, we’ve brought in a really good media team, they've raised the profile of the club, we started really well and we’re probably seen as a big local side now.’