Aldershot Town assistant manager Mark Jones apologised to the club’s supporters after his side were held to a shock 2-2 draw by Tadley Calleva in the fourth qualifying round of the FA Cup.

Marcus Dinanga and Michael Stickland were on target for the Shots, but goals from Alfie Burton and Charlie Barlow earned the Combined Counties Premier Division South visitors a replay in front of a crowd of 2,886 at the EBB Stadium.

“The ultimate feeling is extreme disappointment because when you're playing at home to a side that are four levels lower than you quite rightly everybody expects us to turn up and do the job quite comfortably, and we haven’t,” said Jones.

“We weren't clinical enough in an attacking sense and conceded a goal from a long throw at the end of the first half, which was extremely disappointing.

“We huffed and puffed in the second half but never managed to get ourselves two goals in front and manage the game.

“We did have chances. We've missed two or three gilt-edged opportunities, so our finishing at the top of the pitch was very poor.

“At the end it could have been a lot worse, because Nick Hayes has had to pull off a one-handed save from a header in the last three or four minutes.

“We could have been out of the cup. I think the only positive is that we're still in the competition and we've got another shot at it on Tuesday night.”

The Shots were booed off by some supporters at the end of the game, and Jones admitted he understood that reaction.

“I totally understand our fans' frustration,” said Jones. “It's not good enough from us.

“I know Scott Davies won't accept that. He's very proud to be manager of Aldershot Town, and I'm proud to be the assistant manager.

“We need to do much better. If players don't start to deliver then we've got to do something about it, because we're not happy to go along with mediocrity.

“We're extremely disappointed. All we can do is apologise to the supporters who came and backed us.

“We've got to give much better for them, because they're the lifeblood of the club. We need to make sure we're sending them away with smiles on their faces. There was an awful lot of unhappy faces at the end, and quite rightly so.

“We should be good enough to beat a team from Step 5 at home. That's no disrespect to Tadley, because their boys have come here with great spirit. They've had a great day and worked their socks off for the club.

“We've got to do much better. There's no question about that, and we've got to get better quickly.”

Jones admitted some home truths had been dished out in Aldershot’s changing room after the game.

“There's a lot of frustration in there,” said Jones.

“The players have been left in no uncertain terms that that level of performance won't be accepted by us. Hopefully, we’ll get a reaction now.

“There's been an awful lot of positivity since Scott's come in, but over the past three or four games we haven't been at the levels we need to be at.

“We need to get back there quickly. There’s a lot of frustration, but in a strange way we are still pleased to be in the competition because we could have been on the end of one of the biggest cup upsets from this weekend.”

Jones is expecting a tough test when the Shots travel to Tadley for the replay on Tuesday, October 20 (7.45pm kick-off).

“Tadley will be up for it,” said Jones. “We know what we've got to do, and hopefully we can get it done.

“It's not going to be easy. Tadley will have home advantage, and their village will get behind them.”