Nikki Bull says he can't ask for any more from his players but admits they desperately need a win to help their self-belief.

The Gate were seven minutes from victory in Wednesday's Kent Reliance Senior Cup quarter-final against Charlton but then conceded twice to lose 2-1 to their League 1 visitors whose winner came in the final seconds.

The result followed a 2-0 home league defeat to high-flying St Albans on Saturday when again the Gate produced a display which belied their lowly position in Vanarama National League South (19th).

Boss Bull, who celebrates a year in the manager's job on Friday, said: "It's another tough one to take (Wednesday's defeat), to a man the players worked their socks off and I honestly don't think we could get any more out of them than they are giving at the moment.

"It's a new squad which has been quickly assembled, and a lot of the boys haven't played a lot of football before joining us but they're giving it their all.

"Performances have been good and again there were a lot of positives, but at the end of the day the only thing that matters is the result and we desperately need a win."

The Blues travel to eighth-placed Hungerford on Saturday on the back of seven successive league defeats and Bull admits ending that run is becoming 'massively important.'

He added: "I get annoyed when I hear people keep saying that we just need a couple of wins and we'll be all right but football doesn't work like that.

"There are no 'gimmes' in this division, we know that better than anyone."

Bull revealed that he has spent much of the week trying to strengthen his squad but says the club's present financial predicament continues to make recruitment hard.

He said: "I've lost count of how much time I've spent on the phone trying to see if there are any players out there who fit our specific criteria but this week I've been turned down by people who are playing two or even three divisions below us.

"If we were a stable club players would jump at the chance to play up a level but the one thing that puts people off more than anything is when there are financial problems because players think they're not going to get paid."

For the trip to Hungerford Bull has no fresh injury worries and he hopes to have Chris Sessegnon back at some stage over the festive period.

The full-back sustained a broken elbow during the defeat at Eastbourne Borough last month but had his cast removed on Wednesday and Bull expects him back within a fortnight.

The Gate boss also confirmed that keeper Jon Henly has left Hartsdown after the completion of his loan spell.