BILLERICAY Town manager Gary McCann admitted their defensive vulnerabilities cost them in a 6-3 defeat to fellow promotion hopefuls Chatham Town, reports Jack Patmore.

Despite taking the lead through Adam Leathers on five minutes, the Chats’ attacking prowess shone through as ex-Billericay forward Kareem Isiaka netted a hat-trick and Jack Evans, Rowan Liburd and Jamie Yila were also on the scoresheet.

Speaking to the club's YouTube channel, McCann felt there were some positives in the loss but knows they have to improve defensively.

“I thought there were a lot of good moments in the game,” said McCann.

“We have ended up scoring three goals away from home, we have created numerous chances and maybe should have had a couple of penalties.

“There is no question that we need to defend better.

“The goals we have conceded, it is one of the worst defensive displays we have put together this season and they have punished us at every moment.

“It is a tough one to take, a tough defeat but unbelievably, we still sit in third and that is something we have to hang onto."

Billericay have now suffered four Isthmian Premier Division defeats in succession.

And McCann wants to see a reaction from the latest setback.

“With 10 games to go, there is definitely a reset which needs to be pushed within the group," said McCann.

“There are 10 huge games left for this football club, we want to make sure it is 12, but we have got to be better than we were on Saturday.

Sydney Ibie joined on loan for the rest of the season from Dagenham & Redbridge on Friday and netted a late consolation with two minutes remaining to earn praise from McCann.

“I thought he was excellent,” said McCann.

“I thought he grew into the game and he only met the players for the first time on Thursday.

“You can see when he gets the ball, something is going to happen.

“He is very direct and brave but I don’t think we got it out to him anywhere near enough in the first half.

“There were some real positive performances and that will maybe surprise one or two but we haven’t been responsible enough and we have got to be better.”

But McCann remains confident his side can secure a play-off finish.

“We are on a bad run of form but I have no doubt that this group will realign itself and cement a position within the play-offs," he said.

“We wanted first and that is something that we set out for at the start of the season but the consistency of others has changed that.

“If you look at the performance, we have got to eliminate the individual errors we have made.

“We have collectively got to be better defensively and we will make adjustments accordingly.

“There is no question that they were the better side but we learn more from a defeat.”

Billericay host Hashtag United in an Essex derby on Saturday.