GREAT Harwood Town boss John Hughes branded his players "a disgrace" as they slumped to a 2-1 home defeat against Norton United on Saturday.

And he is urging his players to concentrate on their league form after being distracted by their run to the Division Two Trophy final.

The Norton defeat was a major setback in their attempts to make up ground on the leading pack in North West Counties Division Two but Great Harwood have another chance to do that when they host Flixton tonight.

Illness kept James Dean and Paul Mashiter out of the starting line-up on Saturday but both should have recovered in time for tonight's clash.

However, Hughes is still disappointed by the way injury has decimated his squad as the season has progressed.

He said: "We've gone from having a large pool of players at the start of the season to struggling to get a side together.

"The players seem to have become a bit distracted by getting to the final of the Division Two Trophy and our league form has suffered as a result.

"On Saturday they were a total disgrace and things need to change."