CHELMSFORD City caretaker manager Kevin Maher said Sutton United showed the benchmark that his team must reach.

Dan Fitchett’s brace for the visitors in the fourth and 68th minutes handed third-placed Sutton a 2-0 National League South win at the Melbourne Stadium to leave them unbeaten in nine league matches.

City had gone into the match on the back of their first home league win since September but they were unable to build on that 4-3 success over Whitehawk.

“They were the better team on the day and you accept that,” said Maher. “They are that step further ahead of us at the minute and it shows what steps we have got to take to get nearer to them.

“We said we wanted to keep it tight for the first 15 to 20 minutes and we gave away a poor goal to start the game with and that put us on the back foot really.

“I think there’s a naievity about our play at times, especially defensively. A lot of the goals I have seen throughout the season and recently have been too soft and it’s something we have got to tighten up on.

“I think the second goal came when we thought we were having a bit of pressure and our best spell of the game. We have let them off the hook and that’s killed the game really.”

Maher said he had no problems with the team’s workrate and would work on the Clarets defensive frailties in training ahead of Saturday’s league trip to Hemel Hempstead.

And the caretaker boss is hoping the experience of loan midfielder Reece Prestedge will help his younger players following his arrival from Bromley for the remainder of the season.

“We need a couple of older heads around the place. I thought he battled well and and he organised others around him,” said Maher of Prestedge’s debut on Saturday.