Maidenhead United are suffering knock back after knock back at the present time, and manager Ryan Peters has acknowledged that someone in his position should probably ‘be looking over their shoulder’.

But he knows he has the support of the owners and the players as he bids to lift the team out of its present rut and onto a more positive run in the league and cup.

On Saturday, the Magpies were seconds away from claiming their first league win since late September after Josh Umerah’s goal gave them a 1-0 lead at Hampton & Richmond Borough heading into the final seconds. Yet a late loss of concentration enabled the home side to score and snatch a point.

From that blow, they walked straight into another one on Tuesday night as a Magpies side containing new signings Nickson Okosun, Jordan Willis and Mauro Vilhete failed to take their chances as they lost on penalties to Burnham in the Berks & Bucks Senior Cup.

It’s not a competition Maidenhead have seen as a priority in recent seasons, with the club choosing to pull out of the cup a few seasons ago. But Tuesday’s result against step 5 level opponents will still have stung.

“I’d prefer to be battered each week and get a lucky goal to give us the points, rather than being in games and not taking our chances and then getting a sucker punch,” Peters said this week. “Things are not marrying up right now. We’re not giving our fans anything to scream and shout about.

“Anyone that finds themselves in the position we find ourselves in and you’re not getting results, well, things can happen very quickly.

“The owners have been fantastic with me. I’ve been here a long time. They’re willing and wishing me to do well. My tenure this season would suggest that I am nowhere near doing enough.

“Yeah, I feel it (pressure), but I also put myself under a lot of pressure to emulate last season. We’ve got nowhere near that. So yeah, I suppose anyone that finds themselves in the position I find myself in should be looking over their shoulder.”

Peters felt the Magpies deserved more from both of their matches this week, and with some more clinical finishing from his team they’d probably be celebrating two straight wins in the run up to Saturday’s FA Trophy second round tie at Maidstone United.

“The idea was to go and have a really positive week and to go unbeaten,” added Peters. “Hampton, we got to 96 minutes, and we thought it was going to be a really great start to that week, and we conceded in the last minute.

“On Tuesday we missed some good chances and ended up getting knocked out on penalties.

“That now leaves us with one competition, the FA Trophy on Saturday against Maidstone.

“I don’t think we were complacent against Burnham. I don’t think anyone thought it’s just going to be easy.

“The number of chances that we had should mean we’d be three or four goals up. But a lack of composure in front of goal means that the game goes to penalties and it becomes a lottery after that.

“I appreciate that we made a lot of changes, but if you look at the names on that sheet it should have been enough.”

New signing from Watford Nickson Okosun got off the mark in Tuesday’s 1-1 draw with Burnham, and Peters is hoping his youthful energy - and eye for a goal - will tally well with the experience of Mauro Vilhete and Jordan Willis.

While this season hasn’t gone anything like Peters planned, the Magpies remain a strong outfit on paper. Translating those qualities to the pitch is now key, but the team is still only 10 points off the play-off places with two thirds of the campaign to go.

“We’ve had a host of chances in our last few games, but it’s been a case of us not taking ours and also not being as resolute as we can be so we’re also conceding,” said Peters.

“While we’re still creating chances, we need someone to put it in the back of the net more regularly and we’re hoping Nickson (Okosun) can do that.

“Naivety is probably the word that best describes how things are going in games at times. We have a very young team, and while we have a lot of ability, it’s the decision making that is costing us in moments. Bringing in some faces in Jordan and Mauro who are both really experienced, I’m hoping will get rid of some of that naivety. Nickson is a different one.

“He’s a young player but he’s got great attributes so therefore I hope if we give him one chance, it will be one goal. If we can get chances created and chances scored but also be a bit cuter in our own box, it should lead to more wins than losses.

“I don’t think anyone, not a single person in our dressing room believes this is over.

“You’ve just spoken of the relegation zone, and I don’t think that’s ever been a thought process of ours. But we do find ourselves perilously close to it. I’ve said many times, we’re almost there, but it’s the word almost.

“We’ve got to find a way to turn those almosts into being there and getting over the line in matches.”