Garry Wilson fears Eastbourne Borough do not have the ruthless streak required to win promotion to the Conference.

Borough looked to be cruising to victory at home to Sutton United on Saturday when a mistake from the usually reliable Lee Hook gifted the visitors an undeserved equaliser.

It was the fourth time this season that Garry Wilson's side have thrown away valuable points in the dying stages after similar slips against Havant last weekend, Grays and Margate.

The result saw Borough's lead over Hornchurch in the final play-off place cut to a single point and Wilson has told his players they must learn from their mistakes if they are to remain in the top five.

Wilson said: "Last week we conceded a winner in the 87th minute and this week it is an equaliser in the last minute and those dropped points could come back to haunt us.

"If we are going to be a top side we need to learn to finish teams off. Maybe we are not ready to be a top side just yet because we should be experienced enough to close a game down.

"We were completely in control but instead of just keeping the ball in the corner we were naive because we continued trying to play and paid the ultimate price.

"It was a real sickener to concede right at the end but it shows that it is no good playing well for 89 minutes only to lose your concentration in the last minute."

Whether Borough played well for 89 minutes is debatable but they certainly had enough chances to put the result beyond doubt well before substitute Dominic O'Shea embarassed Hook to snatch a point.

Yemi Odubade blazed over with just the keeper to beat early on before Phil Wilson stuck out a leg to save Ben Austin's effort as a scrappy first half looked destined to end goalless.

That Borough went in ahead was largely due to the determination of Ollie Rowland as he won the ball in midfield and set Scott Ramsay charging down the left flank. Ramsay, wearing the captain's armband in the absence of Stuart Tuck, cut the ball back to give Danny Simmonds a simple finish from six yards.

The home crowd now expected Borough to go on and win comfortably against a Sutton side battling for points at the wrong end of the table but three minutes after the break the visitors were level in controversial circumstances. Eddie Akuamoah went down very easily in the area under Austin's challenge and Matt Gray blasted the spot kick past Hook.

Borough's frustration grew as Ramsay failed to make the most of two glorious chances to restore the advantage when he headed weakly at Wilson and then took the ball around the Sutton keeper only to lose control with the goal gaping.

Wilson threw on a third striker in Loui Fazakerley as Borough pushed for a winner and it looked like they had got it when Odubade grabbed his ninth goal in seven games since signing from Yeovil with ten minutes remaining.

Fazakerley wasted a chance to put the game beyond reach and then came Hook's costly clanger as he allowed O'Shea's shot on the turn to trickle through his legs and over the line.

Wilson said: "Lee has been our saviour on so many ocassions this season so nobody is pointing the finger at him. No keeper likes letting in a goal like that but we need to lift him for the rest of the season and it was nice to see the supporters clap him off at the end.

"It would have been a big three points for us after losing two in a row and it means that there is a bit more pressure on us to get a result at Hayes now."