Carshalton Athletic midfielder Matt Males showed his versatility on Tuesday night but it could not prevent a third away defeat on the spin.

Males came off the bench to don the gloves for the last 20 minutes of the Robins’ rearranged trip to Faversham Town after goalkeeper Jack Eden suffered concussion while conceding a penalty.

The hosts duly scored the spot-kick on their way to a 5-0 win, which means Carshalton have now picked up only one point from their past seven away games.

“We were scratching our heads at the end because our performance didn’t justify such an uneven scoreline,” said Males.

“We were the better team in the first half and it was only 1-0 at the break, but we made three costly mistakes at the back and you can never do that, particularly against the club second in the league.”

The defeat leaves Robins 17th in Ryman Division One South, 10 points above the drop zone.

Males went between the posts in the 70th minute with the scoreline at 3-0 when Eden was taken off.

And despite being beaten twice more, he made a fine save late on to deny the hosts a sixth.

He said: “We feel we gel as a team, but final scores don’t lie and we are failing to make an impact in the final third at this moment.”

Carshalton host Whitstable Town this Saturday (kick-off 3pm) when, conversely, they will be aiming for a 10th home win from 12 games.

The original clash at Faversham was abandoned after Robins midfielder Jerome Walker suffered a broken leg last month.

Since then, the Kent side have raised £250 for Walker.

Robins chairman Paul Dipre tweeted: “On behalf of management, players and fans I would like to thank Faversham Town for their kind gesture towards our injured Jerome Walker.”