Carshalton Athletic manager Matt Howard reckons Wednesday night's 2-1 defeat at Guernsey was negative in result only.

Statistics taken from the game showed the Robins had 24 shots during the 90 minutes, with more than half on target, but Guersney goalkeeper Chris Tardif put in a "man of the match" winning performance.

The defeat means the Robins have lost both their opening games of the Ryman Division One South season, following on from Saturday's 4-0 reverse at home to Dorking Wanderers.

But Howard believes the players who made the long trip to the Channel Island have set the tone for the club moving forwards.

"It wouldn't be big-headed of me to say we were the better team on Wednesday," he said.

"I saw an increased desire across the board from Saturday's performance and, if we continue to play like that, we'll soon be picking up points."

Carshalton forward Greg Andrews in particular endured a frustrating evening in front of goal, culminating in hitting a penalty wide on 64 minutes.

"I felt for Greg. He's hit the target with every shot bar the penalty, but come up against a keeper in the form of his life. I've no doubt once he gets one there'll be no stopping him," Howard added.

"I'm happy with my forward options no doubt, but perhaps this kind of result merely highlights the need to look at possibly adding one more to that area of the squad."

Among those current forward options is Kingsley Aikhionbare - the young striker, who left the club last season to go to university and only re-registered with the club this week - scored within three minutes of coming off the bench.

"Kingsley showed some of his potential and he knows the club well, so it's good to have him onboard," Howard said.

"But the most important thing is that we are now off the mark in front of goal, so we can now push on in that respect."

Carshalton head to Whitstable Town on Saturday (kick-off 3pm) and Howard is feeling positive about the trip.

"Losing to Guernsey in the manner which we did was a hard pill to swallow but, if we can replicate the same desire and attacking intent, then we can potentially end up giving someone a real pasting," he said.