The New Saints boss Scott Ruscoe believes his side can reset themselves in their festive fixtures after crashing to a first JD Cymru Premier League defeat of the season.

The Saints faced Newtown last night after falling 2-0 to bitter rivals Connah’s Quay Nomads on Saturday and will host Penybont on Saturday before Cefn Druids come to Park Hall on Boxing Day.

Ruscoe insists his players will be ready for the games after defeat left them level on points with Nomads – TNS top on goal difference – but isn’t expecting too many changes.

“We moved onto Newtown quite quickly, and we’ve got two home games coming on Saturday and Boxing Day,” he said.

“We have a chance to go back to clean sheets, getting some positivity around us straight away and get back to enjoying it – it’s how we win, through attractive football.

“If the results are the same then the players and I will be happy.

“It’s important to rotate over these weeks – Saturday night, Tuesday, Saturday, Boxing Day – and we have the players in the squad who can come in and do as well, if not better, than the previous game.

“I can change things up but then on the other hand, if we can have a few wins and build up some momentum then I don’t think you have to change too much.

“We will have niggles, but on the whole, we’ll look to stay as regular as we can be for a starting 10 or 11.”

Ruscoe admitted Saturday’s defeat – courtesy of goals from former TNS stars Aeron Edwards and a Mike Wilde-enforced own goal from Paul Harrison – left him frustrated.

But he believes that while his largely stood up to the physical test posed by Nomads, he felt had they taken their chances, it would have been a different story.

“There’s disappointment and frustration as we know we can play better after a fantastic start to the season,” he added.

“We only dropped four points, so yes, frustration.

“There are positives – we stood up to the physical part of the game and in the first minute, Dean Ebbe had a chance.

“I’m not talking out of turn as we’ve already discussed it, and even Dean said it, that he could could have had another touch or a shot.

“It looked like the keeper was offering the whole of his goal to shoot at. Louis Robles had a good effort too, so did Leo Smith.”

Ruscoe referenced the state of the Nomads pitch straight after the game and he doubled down on his thoughts on its condition.

He continued: “If you look at how we try to play and how they try to play, we’re always going to be up against it on their pitch.

“It was very heavy and it wasn’t conducive to our style of play, but we have to find a solution when we play Connah’s Quay Nomads.”

Ruscoe added: “We’ve done well there in the past and we’ve lost in the past when we were 10-20 points clear of them and that was the way they played football, and always have done.”

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