I WAS a lot happier with the performance on Tuesday night compared to how I felt on Saturday after the Frome defeat.

It was so frustrating to lose 90 seconds from the end and, again, it came from an individual mistake.

They were all due a pat on the back as they played with loads of enthusiasm and I would have accepted a point. It would have been a place to start.

We have now lost four home games all by a single goal. With a bit of luck, and a point from each of those games, we could have been looking much healthier in the table.

It is all about fine margins and I don’t think we were a millions miles away on Tuesday night.

We set up slightly differently and went a bit more Route One-ish and tried to use the channels. Mitch Bryant has come in and had at least three chances. He is a player who likes to pull the trigger and that was always my criticism of David Stone – he wanted to take one touch too many.

I can’t condone Mitch’s reaction at the end when he got sent off, but so much of that was frustration at how the game had gone for him.

That’s four red cards already this season and the fines are building up.

Obviously, the players are all lacking in confidence at the moment and we seem to be making the pitch too big in the second half with our defenders backing off more than they should be doing. But we will continue to work on that.

It is now Supermarine in the FA Cup on Saturday and both clubs will be desperate for the financial boost that comes with progressing in the competition.