ANDY Preece has asked his players to be switched on from the start of tomorrow’s Evo-Stik Premier Division encounter with Whitby Town.

He told the Guardian that Vics had been sluggish during the opening exchanges in each of their past two league games.

“If you don’t start right then you’ll be on the back foot,” he said.

“That’s what happened [at Nantwich] on Monday; I felt we weren’t in the game at all for the first 25 minutes; the lads looked leggy and tired.

“We made mistakes that cost us both goals but I’m not going to criticise individuals.

“We’ll learn as much from losing there as we did from beating Hucknall [on Saturday]; that’s how it’s going to be this season.”

He expects a tough encounter when Blues arrive in town for their first visit to the Victoria Stadium on Saturday.

Their record on the road is poor – no league win away from their home patch since February – but Preece says he is taking nothing for granted.

“We’ll have to work hard in every single game to get a result and Saturday is no different,” he said.

“This league, even now, is proving to be so tight.

“Whitby have Andy Campbell and Tony Hackworth in attack and so it would be crazy to take them lightly.

“Harry [Dunn] is a good manager and he puts together good teams.”

Preece has been frustrated this week in his attempt to bring in former Droylsden midfielder Neil Sorvel, who has been training with Northwich for the past month.

The Vics boss revealed that budgetary restraints had prevented him adding the 37-year-old to his squad in time to face Whitby.

“I’ve not given up hope we can sort out something,” he added.

“I just feel we need a little bit more know-how and he certainly has that; we’re weighing things up to see if we can get him on board.”

A deal for a Football Conference defender is on hold too.

Preece, who has a doubt over midfielder Wayne Riley (knee) ahead of tomorrow’s clash, said Vics were raring to go after losing for the first time this term against the Dabbers.

Before that they had won three successive matches.

“We stuck at it and nobody’s head went down despite the errors,” he said.

“We gifted Nantwich two goals and to be fair they returned the favour for ours.

“The lads weren’t too down about it though and there have been a lot more positives to take out of the first four matches than negatives.

“They’ve looked bright in training and I’m sure they’ll bounce back against Whitby.”