Penrith will be desperately looking for a reaction when they visit Ashington as they look to put their disappointing start to the season behind them.

Bonny Blues boss Jim Nichols last week revealed he had been struggling to bring a new striker to the club, although it was defensive problems that came to the fore on Saturday in their 5-3 defeat at home to Ryhope Colliery Welfare.

As they look to add to the six points they have earned from their first 11 league fixtures, Penrith will tonight (7.45pm kick-off) face 11th-placed Ashington at Woodhorn Lane.

Managed by former England cricketer Steve Harmison, the Colliers have drawn their last two matches, at Shildon and Whitley Bay.

The Bonny Blues will looking to bounce back after another loss at the weekend.

A headed goal from captain Grant Davidson actually meant Nichols’ men led 1-0 at half-time.

But a disastrous start to the second period saw Penrith concede five goals in 13 minutes, with Josh Home-Jackson getting four of them, although Jonny Murray did score for the Cumbrians in that period.

There was to be one more goal in the game as Robbie Hebson found the net, but the damage had already been done. And Nichols pulled no punches after the full-time whistle.

He said: “I would say that, that’s the worst 12 or 13 minutes of football I have ever been involved in.

“They haven’t even scored good goals. They have just clipped balls behind into areas and we couldn’t defend it.

“On the whole in the game, we have actually played alright, but it’s the same old story, isn’t it?

“The last two games, we have been saying we haven’t started well. This time, we started alright.

“We kept in the game and got ourselves ahead. Then, we have had that 12 or 13-minute spell where we have absolutely imploded.”

One man who Penrith will not come up against this evening is Ashington’s Victor Manquillo – twin brother of Newcastle United’s Javier.

“Victor has gone back to Atlético Madrid to get an operation on his knee then, after that, he’s probably looking at six to eight weeks’ rehab,” Harmison, who was appointed Ashington’s manager in 2015, said to their club website.