FC Isle of Man players Sam Baines and Dean Pinnington have issued a rallying cry for the island to get behind the struggling team after a poor start to the season.

The pair were speaking after Tuesday evening’s 3-1 defeat at Cheadle Town, a result that leaves the Ravens bottom of the table. The mid-week reverse in Lancashire was the Ravens’ eighth loss of the fledgling NWCFL Premier Division campaign.

Pinnington said: ‘All the lads know the first-half performance [against Cheadle] was nowhere near good enough, just like the last few weeks haven’t been good enough.

‘In the second half we actually finally got together as a team and fought for each other for the first time in a while.

‘Everyone inside and outside the club needs to stick together. Everyone’s been pointing the finger and there’s been a lot of negativity [aimed at us]. Everyone should just get behind us because we’re representing the Isle of Man. We want to win and be successful for the community and the fans as much as us.’

Baines added: ‘We’re all trying our best. We just need everyone to get behind us. People need to remember everyone as the club is volunteers - no one is getting paid to do this.’

After the weekend’s loss against Burscough, the club released a statement saying that the future of manager Paul Jones wouldn’t be discussed until a planned review on September 20.

Pinnington added that the players need to take responsibility for the club’s current run of form: ‘I’m not scoring enough, I’m not getting enough assists - that’s my responsibility.

‘I’m sure the other players feel the same.

‘We all know it’s our fault. We’re the ones on the pitch playing the game. You can’t go around blaming the management or blaming this or that. We’re not good enough at the minute, but we’ll try out best to get better.’

- FC Isle of Man are back at home this Saturday for the visit of Charnock Richard. That game kicks off at the Bowl at 6pm.