The Shots face Sutton United away tonight after losing 1-0 to Gary Waddock's Wealdstone on Saturday

Manager Scott Davies was left frustrated by post-match boos from home fans after Aldershot Town lost 1-0 to Wealdstone in the National League on Saturday.

Played in driving rain and fierce winds, there was an eerie silence for much of Saturday at the EBB Stadium – there was no pre-match or post-match music or tannoy announcements at the ground due to the rain causing electrical faults – no doubt making the disgruntled fans seem even louder.

Olufela Olomola’s goal early in the second half was enough to secure the points for former Shots manager Gary Waddock, who had been Davies’ boss during his spell as a player in north Hampshire.

In truth there was little in the game where both teams showed effort but lacked in both quality and decision-making – exacerbated by the wet and windy conditions.

And while Davies admitted the boos had been deserved after his team drew with Step 5 side Tadley Calleva in an FA Cup game at the EBB Stadium seven days previously – he was aggrieved to hear them again this weekend.

“It wasn’t to be and I’m hugely frustrated,” Davies said of the Wealdstone result. “As you can see, the supporters are [frustrated], but when I got the job in the summer, the remit was to stay in the division, right? So we’re sat 14th in the division and we’re five points off the play-offs and six points above relegation.

“I can agree with getting booed against Tadley but I can’t understand why we’ve got booed today. The boys tried. There was a little bit of a lack of quality. We’ve got eight players starting today that were playing the division below last year. So that’s a reminder to people where this football club is at. It’s as simple as that.”

Davies believes his Shots side are a victim of their own early season success – raising fans’ expectations for a side with a budget more akin to those competing for promotion in the National League South than the top seven of Step One.

But some may argue they, like many Shots teams before them, are victims of Waddock’s successes. The former Queen’s Park Rangers midfielder guided the Shots into the Football League in 2007-08 during his first spell in charge and then to consecutive fifth-place finishes in 2016-17 and 2017-18, during his second spell. In fact, since Waddock left in May 2019, the north Hampshire club have only finished in the top half of the table once.

Last season, the club finished directly above the relegation zone in 20th – with Deane Wood confirming in April the budget for this season would be cut by £200,000 on what John Coleman had in 2025-26.

Davies’ Shots are currently 13th with 18 points from 14 games – and are just three points behind FC Halifax Town who sit just outside the play-offs in ninth.

“I feel like we’re probably a victim of our own success from starting so well,” Davies explained. “If we were on 15 points before today and then we moved on to 18, everyone would be excited.

“I think supporters have expectations and their right to do so. I don’t like to moan about the budget but it’s quite well documented where we’re at as a club and how we are fortunate that Deane has come in to sort of save the club.

“We are working within a budget, but I still want to try to overachieve. It’s an expectant football club. The supporters have expectations and you want them to be like that because you want them to dream big. It’s because they care.

“But I think in terms of having a bit of realism, I think 95 per cent are fantastic. It’s probably maybe five per cent that pay their hard-earned money, which we obviously appreciate hugely.

“But it’s tough. We are the ones that have to deliver and we’re trying our best to deliver. And I feel like we’ve delivered on a number of occasions so far this season.

“What we haven’t done in the past four games is deliver on that and it’s disappointing.”

And Davies admits he will likely leave his team selection until the last minute ahead of tonight’s game away to Sutton United.

The Shots have the opportunity to put the Wealdstone game to bed quickly when they travel to south London tonight to play a Sutton United side that are only below them in the table on goal difference.

And what does Davies plan to do differently on Wednesday?

“I have no idea,” he admitted. “I need to go home, have a look at the game, reflect, see who we’ve got available and then go from there.

“It’s probably one that I need to view in the morning, look at the game on Monday, analyse and try to pick the best team for Sutton away.

“We might have lacked quality today but we’ve shown quality this season.

“We’ve torn teams apart here, we tore Harrogate apart, we’ve tore Tamworth apart, when we’re 3-0 up and 4-0 up at half-time. And we’ve got the capability of doing that.

“But when we don’t do it and it becomes a bit of a cagey game, then we’ve lost the games here by the odd goal, apart from Carlisle, where we lost by two. So they’ve always been tight. We’ve never been absolutely battered in any game. Carlisle probably could have scored a few more in truth. But we were still competitive for large parts.

“We’ve got the second youngest squad in the division. So that shows where we’re at. We haven’t got a wealth of experience because that costs a lot of money. So we’re having to do it a different way.

“I think we had eight players today that were playing in the National League South last year, which is incredible really. I know it’s probably more incredible if you do win the game or get a draw, but these lads have been doing it week in, week out.

“It’s not just today, it’s been throughout the whole season that we’ve been doing that. It’s just a moment of realisation of where we’re at and we have to park it and move on.”