Ian Evatt admitted some of his players let themselves down as Wanderers failed to beat Aston Villa’s Under-21s in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy, writes Pete Oliver.
The Whites missed a handful of chances and looked short of inspiration as they were held to a 1-1 draw by a young Villa line-up which then won the penalty shoot-out 4-1 to take the extra bonus point and top Group D.
Wanderers can still qualify for the knock-out stages with a positive result against Fleetwood in their final group game but Evatt knows his side needs to perform better on all fronts.
“Great credit to their young players. They have absolutely run their socks off and defended admirably. I think their goalkeeper was absolutely magnificent, but it's very very disappointing,” said the Wanderers’ boss.
“People have had opportunities today to try and impress to get into the league team and have let themselves down. We have a break now and some time to reassess and think and get ready for the next block of league fixtures but by our standards that just isn't good enough.
“It was attack against defence for the whole game really but we didn't do enough to score goals. Of late we've created a hell of a lot and we created a lot tonight but we just haven't had the focus, the detail or the professionalism to take our chances and opportunities.
“It's very disappointing and some players haven't done themselves any favours tonight. We always try to be straight and honest with everybody and the players have to understand that people have let themselves down tonight and they need to come back with a fresh mind and a fresh focus to really kick on.”
Wanderers now go into an international break on the back of an unbeaten four-game run in League One.
And with progress in the league the priority, Evatt wants a rapid return to winning ways after following up last Saturday’s draw with Shrewsbury by missing the opportunity of a confidence-boosting victory over Villa’s youngsters.
He added: “I can't really quite understand the mindset of the team. When you're so dominant we want to be ruthless and I don't think we were ruthless at any stage tonight.
“We let them off the hook. We allowed their keeper to make some good saves but some of it was poor finishing. We have to be better and we will be better. We've got a big block of fixtures to come up in the league and some opponents who are doing very well. We have a home game when we start back against Burton we need to win and if we win our extra game I think we're two or three points off second and we’re back in it.
“We've had a decent run in the league. Saturday was disappointing that we didn’t take all three points and we need this time now to refocus everybody's minds and understand what's required to fire this club to where it should be.”
Watch the manager's full post-match interview on Wanderers TV HERE