Alex Neil assessed today’s defeat to iFollowPNE after the game and felt that although his side did enough to win the game, the decision making at both ends of the pitch was the difference between winning and losing.
“Naturally we’re all frustrated and disappointed,” said the manager after the game. “I think we had enough chances to score in the game then we did, but if you need to score four goals to win a match at home then it’s not good.
“All three goals were errors, especially the one with the corner as that’s something we spoke about before the game.
"The first one I thought was a free kick and we don’t get it but from that point on, we have to defend the free kick better than we did and the third goal comes from a mistake up the pitch and they get the winning goal so all in all, it’s really disappointing and frustrating as I don’t think we played poorly today.
"There’s certainly been games in the past where we’ve not played well enough and lost and you can take your medicine when that happens but I thought we did more than enough in the game to win it.”
“At this level, minor decisions can be the difference between winning and losing a match. Last year, we didn’t come up and smash teams all over the pitch and win comfortably but we made good decisions at good times but unfortunately at the moment the key decisions we are making are hurting us.”
Alex spoke of the chances his side had this afternoon, especially before the first goal with Tom Barkhuizen hitting the post and Callum Robinson forcing the ‘keeper into a good save, and although the manager emphasised and shared the frustrations of PNE supporters this afternoon, he believes that now is the time to stick together and get ready for the next one with Leeds United next up for North End on Tuesday night at Elland Road.
He added “We had two really good chances today to take the lead but we just need to keep believing, I know it’s difficult for fans as they naturally just want their team to win but the lads are doing as much as they can and it’s not through a lack of effort - they’re trying to make good decisions but on occasions we all get it wrong. We all need to stick together and roll our sleeves up for the next one.
“I thought our play was good at times but we needed to be a bit braver on the ball.
“That’s been the case for a lot of the season. Derby and Norwich - we were on top when they score, we just need to make sure that when we’re building and on the attack, we need to make sure we’re secure and behind the ball as at the moment our attacks have ended up hurting us.
“The lads are disappointed but they need to understand that they didn’t play badly and we should have got something from the game.”
Alex Neil’s full interview can be accessed on iFollowPNE now.