Wealdstone boss Matt Taylor vowed to stick with his principles as the Stones’ poor start to the National League season continued with a 1-0 defeat at Woking on Tuesday.

An early goal from centre-half Cian Harries condemned Taylor to his fifth competitive defeat as boss, having emerged victorious just once so far.

“We’ve come away from home and Woking haven’t had a shot in open play on our goal,” said Taylor, defiantly.

“Archie (Matthews) has had nothing to do. It’s an extremely dubious penalty – I don’t think it is. Enzio’s in the wrong position to start with but gets dragged out by their player.

"In saying all that, the chances we spurned, it’s acutely obvious we’re not good enough at the moment, in front of goal.

“We’ve had three wonderful chances, two when the goal is gaping from three or four yards and then at the end Callum made a great turn and a shot but the goalkeeper pulls off a world-class save.

"We’re really disappointed. We’ve not got what we deserved in any way, shape or form. I thought we were the best team by far.

“We’ve been had over if you like. They (Woking) didn’t deserve to win. I thought we had all the ball and fashioned the best chances, but if you don’t value when you get in those areas then it’s obviously going to be very difficult for you. 

“I’ll watch it back and no doubt, I will be extremely frustrated, because the moments in the game we had were the best.

"I’ve said to the players the strongest part of our team is our defence, and where we need to be better is in front of the opposition’s goal.

"We’ve created unbelievable chances. In fact, they’re very good goalscoring opportunities, but we don’t seem to have that little bit of quality we need to put the ball into the net.”

Another defeat on the road will inevitably see questions asked about Taylor’s playing style, but the former West Ham winger remained defiant in his approach.

“There’s a lot of stats around football these days, and our xG (expected goals) is extremely high. So that tells me what we’re doing is correct. So, no, we’re not coming away from who we are,” he added.

“Trusting the process. The players need to accept a bit of responsibility, because they’re the ones on the pitch.

“They’re not trying to miss opportunities. Their effort and desire is second to none. They’re the best group of men I’ve worked with in terms of their effort, desire, application and willingness to do exactly what’s asked of them.

"But, at the moment we’re being let down by not valuing the chances in front of goal.

“We should win the game – even with the penalty – 3-1. That’s what good teams do. I think we are a very astute, good team from our goal to their penalty area and then when we get into their penalty area, we can’t seem to find that real cutting edge. That’s what’s hurting us at the moment.”