Most of the disappointment felt on Sunday evening, after the Doncaster game had ended, was directed at a level of performance that was well below the standards that have been set in what has been an entertaining and exciting season thus far.
“It’s not about standards I’ve set, it’s what the players have set for themselves,” manager Paul Simpson said. “They’re the ones who have done so well for us so far.
“Maybe me and the staff need to look at why they weren’t quite right for us at Doncaster. Was it the preparation, or do I need to think whether or not I should have made other changes.
“That’s something I will do, but the problem is that it’s been and gone, we can’t change anything now. Hindsight is always a wonderful thing, I did what I thought was the right thing to do, and unfortunately it didn’t work out for us.”
“When you go into a game after getting six points from the previous two games you want a little bit more,” he continued. “That was certainly how we approached it.
“The players wanted nine out of nine, but let’s not take anything away from Doncaster. They have a good group of players and the front three caused us some real problems.
“Maybe it was one game too many for us in this little run, and hopefully we’ll benefit from the next two weeks and come back fresher for it.”
With a squad that has demonstrated over and over that it has more to offer, he commented: “They’re a good group and they have a real determination about them, but when you fall off it you’re reminded that there’s still work to do.
“There are improvements we need to make and I hope to get reinforcements in to help with that. We’ll keep working to see if we can do that. There are some tired bodies and heads around so hopefully we’ll be better next time out.
“We have this spell until the next game and it’s going to be a mixture of working and resting. They’re going to get a few days off to spend some time with their families, because they’ve missed out on that over Christmas, and we’ve got to go again.
“We’ve got 22 games to go now, 22 big games, huge games for us, to either cement a place up in those top places, or to play with as much pride as we can to make sure it’s a good season for us.”