We spoke to Mark Hughes after our defeat to Harrogate.
Speaking to CUTV, Mark said: “Really, really disappointed in the end. It was one that, overall, I thought we played well enough to win the game, had some good chances as well, never quite just dropped for us, maybe to the right people in the right areas, but disappointed, obviously, to lose it at the end.
“They’ve just been able to get a shot off, it's actually going wide of the goal, and it just gets deflected.
“Nothing you can do about it, and it goes in the net, unfortunately. So, it certainly wasn't deserved. We'd nearly scored ourselves, just a few moments earlier.
“But that's how it's going at the moment. It's a tough one to take. No way did I think they were the better team.
“We were always the side that was trying to be progressive, trying to get on the ball, trying to make things happen, rather than just clearing our lines and getting up behind it. But, unfortunately, just at the death, we've had a situation that we probably hadn't dealt with initially as well as we needed to, we'll have to pick ourselves up.
“We've got a run of games coming up now at home. We know we have to win our home games. We haven't been able to do it since I've come in.
“That has to change. We have to take chances, and we have to see games out.
“It is difficult, the way they play. They bang things in behind, just chase after things, try and keep it alive, and hope for the best.
“It worked for them today. For the most part, I don't think Gabe's had a shot to save. But you can see how they get results on occasions.
“They work for them, and it has done this time.”
The couple of chances the Blues did have fell to defenders, which was a frustration, the gaffer said:.
“You wanted them to fall to strikers, you want them to fall to attack-minded players.
“Technically, that's what they do. That's part of their job. Obviously, the lads at the back have different skill sets.
“That's the luck of sport. That's the luck of football. You just need things to fall for you at the right time.
“Unfortunately, today it didn't.”
We also asked Mark about fitness, with a few players looking a little leggy. He responded: “Well, we're trying to manage that.
“I've talked about that for the last three or four weeks. Not everybody's at the same level. A lot of the lads are having to go again, obviously, because the options that we have aren't ready and can't do 90 minutes.
“It's a little bit difficult.”
With a full week of training ahead, Hughes said: “It will be better again next week. But, it was good to see Georgie out there. I thought he was a handful when he came on.
“That's all we can play him at the moment. But, he'll be better for that. He'll have another good week's training again.
“He'll have more game time next week. So, that was a bonus getting Georgie up and running again.”
Matthew Dennis was absent from today’s squad, we asked for an update on his situation, Mark explained: "He was tight in his hamstring this morning, unfortunately. It was too much of a risk. We hope it's nothing significant.
“We had to protect him a little bit. So, yeah, we could have done without that on the morning of the game.
“You adjust and change things around.”
On Cameron Harper being withdrawn, he said: “He just got a bit of cramp.
“So, yeah, just a precaution when he could have carried on. But, you never know. It might have compromised him later on in the game.”
The gap to survival grew following Tranmere Rovers' victory this afternoon, however, United now face three home fixtures in a row - one being a game in hand against MK Dons.
Looking ahead, Mark stated: "We've got good fixtures coming. We showed today that we're more than a match for most teams in this league.
"We've just got to take chances and score more goals. It's a simple analogy. We've got to keep them out one end and score at the other end.”
"The fans were great today. I have to say, we didn't deserve that as a squad of players. But, the fans didn't either because they were great.
"We've got three home games. We're going to have to get the roof off the place and start winning.”
