DEAN KEATES admits his players did not show enough "pride and passion" as Wrexham suffered another blow in the fight against relegation after losing 2-1 to fellow strugglers Aldershot.

Wrexham were looking to build on the 2-0 New Year's Day win at Chorley which took the Reds out of the relegation zone but they were second best throughout against the Shots who clinched a deserved win.

Goalkeeper Rob Lainton kept Wrexham in the game first half but Aldershot eventually built up a two-goal lead, with JJ Hooper's late reply making the game look closer than it really was.

The players were booed off at the final whistle and Keates couldn't defend his side as defeat left 20th placed Wrexham two points above the drop zone.

"It was nowhere near good enough," said Keates. "That is what went wrong.

"We are at home, the tempo wasn't there, the intensity wasn't there, and we didn't play with enough pride and passion out there, it wasn't good enough.

"It is not nice, we are at home and we should be putting that game onto the opposition and we didn't do that."

Wrexham have struggled for consistency all season and it was the same over the festive period, with the double-header victory over Chorley offset by disappointing losses at Sutton and Maidenhead.

The defeat to Aldershot came as no surprise to Keates as the up-and-down form continued.

"I just feel it reverts to type the last few weeks," said Keates.

"One minute we are there one game, the next we are not.

"We were looking to build on a good result at Chorley; the basics were there, we stayed in the game and the quality came through.

"But we just didn't get going.

"The only consistency we are showing at the moment is being inconsistent.

"We have been okay at home, we have got a decent result at Chorley on New Year's Day and we had to try and build on it but we just didn't get started.

"There has been poor performances away from home but we are just inconsistent at the moment.

"We seem to be win one, lose one, win one, lose one. We need to find a level ground and make sure that we get a couple of wins back to back."

Aldershot could have won by a bigger margin after creating lots of chances while Wrexham didn't look like scoring until Hooper's late reply.

"We got into areas and the final pass, ball, execution of it wasn't good enough," said Keates.

"We played way too long too any times.

"Yes, you have to push the opposition back and turn them to earn the right to play as they did to us early on.

"But the players need to recognise when they get get the opportunity to bring the ball down and look to play through the thirds, and we didn't do that."

Wrexham were fortunate to be on level terms at the break and were given a lucky escape in the second half when Mo Bettamer missed an open goal at 0-0, something Keates was hoping would be a turning point.

"The lad somehow missed it," said Keates.

"You look at that and you think, can we use that to give us a lift?

"We should have seen that as a freshness for us and we didn't."

Keates, looking to bolster his squad during the January transfer window, has allowed loan frontmen Mark Harris and Ben Tollitt to return to their parent clubs but hopes to retain the services of Port Vale defender Keiran Kennedy.

"Watch this space with what happens with Keiran," added Keates.

"But Ben has gone back to Blackpool and Mark has gone back to Cardiff, and we thank them for everything that they gave to the football club."

Wrexham are without a game this weekend but Keates is confident of adding to his squad before the next league game at home to Woking the following Saturday.