Town boss Kieran McKenna admitted it was a disappointing night as the Blues were defeated 1-0 by Colchester United in the Carabao Cup, believing the game was changed by the error which led to the U’s goal.
Luke Hannant’s first ever goal for the Essex side won the tie with the Blues having created plenty of chances in the first half before labouring in the second as the U’s defended resolutely to hang on to their lead.
"It’s obviously a very disappointing night,” McKenna said. "I thought the performance in the first 30 minutes was really good, I felt we settled into the game really good for the number of changes that we made.
"I thought everyone got their flow very quickly and created more than enough chances in the first 30 minutes to have a lead.
"Obviously the complexion of the game changed on one moment and after that it made it a very difficult night. It gave Colchester something to hang on to, enabled to defend their box really deep for the rest of the game and they did that really well, and credit to them for that.
"We didn’t do enough to get the goal back. I thought we tried, I thought the effort levels were really good. We tried everything but we weren’t able to get the goal back.
"So all in all it makes for a really disappointing night, but it’s very early in the season, we have big games ahead, we have other priorities, there’s no doubt about that and it’s about moving on very quickly now towards that.”
Asked whether he was more disappointed by the goal which was conceded, Rekeem Harper passing the ball into his own penalty area too close to Hannant, or the failure to take opportunities at the other end.
"I think we have to take both on the chin,” McKenna reflected. "We should have been ahead, we had chances right through the course of the game but the longer you keep the game at 0-0 it builds more and more pressure on them, but when you given them such a cheap goal, it gives them something to hang on to and changes the mentality of the game.
"It puts more pressure on ourselves and gives them the encouragement to keep throwing their bodies on the line.
"I think we have to accept the responsibility with both and there are some tough lessons in there.
"But it’s early in the season, it was a very changed side, it was a young side, young players are going to make mistakes, we accept that and we stick together as a group and we move on.”
Quizzed on whether there were pluses to be taken from youngster Cameron Humphreys getting into good positions in the area on a number of occasions, although without taking those opportunities, McKenna said: "I don’t think it’s the night to talk about the positives, to be honest, because it’s a disappointing night.
"But I thought that the way that we settled into the game, the way that everyone knew their jobs, how close the identity was what we’re seeing with the players who were playing last Saturday, I thought was really, really clear and I couldn’t have asked for more in terms of how we did in the first 30 minutes.
"Again, the complexion of the game was changed in one moment and that’s a lesson for us, both in terms of our concentration in those moments but also how we respond to that and that wasn’t easy tonight, but we can certainly do better.”
The Northern Irishman added: "We would have liked to progress in the cup, but we have lots of games, I’m no worried about the games, we have lots of lots of games in August.
"There are going to be minutes there for everyone in the squad, it’s going to be important over the course of the season and I’m sure people are going to have minutes and be able to play their part and be needed to play their part when the time comes.
"It would have been nice to go through, certainly for the supporters, it would have been nice to go through and maybe get a couple of good ties but the reality is that it’s not our priority at the moment, we have other big priorities this season and that’s clear from the outset.
"It’s a disappointing night but we need to swallow that disappointment quickly as a group and move on to big games on Saturday on Tuesday.”