Carruthers was speaking in the aftermath of Friday’s shock FA Cup exit to Staveley.
He said:
“It was really disappointing to lose on Friday as the FA Cup is very important to a club like us. We’ll be looking for a positive reaction on Monday .

“Matt Thornhil is a very influential player in our side and to lose him so early on was a real blow, but we still created enough chances to have won five or six games.

“Unfortunately there were some areas where players let themselves and the club down and dropped below the standards we have set.

“We have to say to these players step up your game or you will be replaced. We are not afraid to make changes, we have a great deal of talent running through the club and perhaps it’s time to bring some fresh blood in.”

He was philosophical about the sendings off:
“We seem to have been on the wrong end of some debatable refereeing decisions recently, but this is football and what goes around comes around, no doubt we will benefit from decisions at some time and it will even itself out over the season.”

Turning his attention to Matlock Town, Carruthers added:
“We have had Matlock watched and are aware of the threat they pose, especially Shaun Harrod, a big strong striker.

“They are a club in transition right now, though, going through a few changes and it might be a good time to play them.

“We’ll get after them and get our season back on track. There’s a long way to go yet and an awful lot of football to be played.”

Updated 20:36 - 11 Sep 2018 by Neil McGowan