'Too many babies' - Troy Deeney unleashes extraordinary rant against Forest Green Rovers squad following Harrogate Town defeat as manager vows to 'sledgehammer' players and makes bizarre Antique Roadshow comparison

After a rather dull first half against ninth-placed Harrogate, a clumsy challenge saw debutant Alex Gorrin sent off after he received his second yellow card, just a few minutes after the start of the second half. Three minutes following the sending-off, Jack Muldoon gave the visitors the lead with a reasonably easy finish. Then, with Tommy Simkin unable to save Abraham Odoh's cool finish into the bottom-right corner, Harrogate increased their advantage.

On the first half, the former Watford striker said [via Gloucestershire Live]: "The first half was boring and I would have preferred to watch Antiques Roadshow, no offence to anyone who likes Antiques Roadshow."

He added: “The amount of nonsense you have to deal with at this place, from players by the way, is embarrassing. What is going to have to happen is the sledgehammers are going to have to come out and there are going to be a lot of people that won’t like it, but I do not care.

"My job is to try and save this football club in the short term, but also to put it in a better place moving forward and at the moment there are too many babies and that is not just young players, there are too many babies from top to bottom."

The loss meant that Deeney is still winless at the club after six games without claiming three points in the fourth tier of English football. The under-threat club currently sits in last place in the league with 18 points after 26 games played.

Forest Green Rovers will have another at claiming their first win under Deeney when they take on promotion-battling Mansfield Town on Tuesday, January 16.