Richmond coach Geoff Richards feels his squad of players owe their fans an apology after their poor form this season.

Richards saw his men get back to National League Two South winning ways last weekend with a 27-18 win over visitors Canterbury.

But that win merely moved Richmond back into a mid-table position, and Richards insists his side should have fared a lot better.

He said: “The players feel that they have let the club and the supporters down in terms of results this season.

“We simply have not done as well as we could have done.

“It is very easy to make excuses and yes we have had injuries, but every side gets injuries during a season.

“You still have to compete and we all feel that we have not performed to our potential.

“All we can say to the fans is that we are very committed to turning that around.”

The revival began last Saturday with a hard-fought win over Canterbury thanks to tries from Henry Head, Sean Flynn and Johnny Wehbe.

And Richards praised his side for the performance in the wake of the previous week’s thrashing at Worthing.

He added: “I thought we showed a lot of character and that was really pleasing.

“We were really up against it at times and there were a few strange refereeing decisions that went their way.

“But we dug in and showed great resolve to come away with the win.”

Another home game is up next when Southend are the visitors this weekend.

And the coach has called for more of the same from his men.

Richards added: “There are leagues within a league at the moment and our aim is to finish as high as we can among that second pack.

“Southend are one of those sides and a win will mean a lot to us.”

Richmond’s next three matches: Feb 13 Southend (h), 20 Westcombe Park (a), 27 Clifton (h)