BILLERICAY Town manager Craig Edwards says bouncing back against Lowestoft Town tonight could set the tone for a significant week in their season.

Town welcome the Suffolk side tonight before matches against Bognor Regis Town and Tonbridge Angels over the Bank Holiday weekend.

Edwards saw his side lose 3-2 against Staines on Saturday after missing a late penalty, their first reverse of the season, and said he was still baffled by how they came away empty handed.

“If we played that way 20 times we would have won the match 19 times,” he said. “We scored two excellent goals and played well, having numerous chances and we missed the penalty.

“We could have scored from the resultant penalty and it really wasn’t our day. Their goals were frustrating as well as they were avoidable and they got really lucky with them.

“The penalty we conceded was poor from my perspective but others said it was never a foul. To concede a minute after equalising was so disappointing as well.

“You don’t always win games you deserve to but we were better than them.”

Lowestoft have had a similar start to their Ryman Premier League campaign, with a win, draw and defeat to their name so far but Edwards still expects them to be challenging for promotion come the end of the season.

“It is a tough one and we want to bounce back,” he said. “Lowestoft, Bognor and Tonbridge await in the next week which is very tough and I will want six points minimum from those games.

“A good result tonight would put us in a good place heading into those two so the boys are well prepared and know what they need to do.

“In terms of the league, it is too early to say what will happen at the moment. Tonbridge have things in place to do well and have started strongly and I fancy their chances.

“But we will give them all a good game.”

Kreshnic Krasniqi will miss the game with a three-match suspension after his red card against Wingate & Finchley last week.