Leyton Orient head coach Ross Embleton was disappointed his side yet again failed to reach the standards they've set in moments this season.
The O's crashed to a narrow 2-1 defeat to Crawley Town due to an 82nd minute strike from Max Watters at the Breyer Group Stadium.
Embleton's men slipped down to 12th in League Two after a second consecutive defeat following the mid-week defeat to Morecambe.
“A little bit like Tuesday night, the goal goes in with what I believe was their first cross into the box all afternoon or at least one of the early ones, and it was a sloppy goal to concede,” Embleton admitted.
“Set-pieces at this level are obviously a big part of people’s game and we knew that they were going to come here and throw balls into the box so we need to deal with that better.
“Then I felt we got real control of the game, we didn’t create a huge amount, but I felt like it was coming and when we moved the ball really quickly we looked like we were going to get into dangerous positions and I felt we were justified to get the goal and go in at 1-1.
“Our message at half-time was to increase the tempo of our play, but to go and keep moving the ball, as they came here to sit off us and make it tough.
“I think we attempted to do that second-half, but we didn’t do it well enough.”
The boss added: “I think because of the way we were moving the ball, we played into their hands, our pitch is poor and we play into areas in the second-half where people are under pressure in the middle of the pitch and we give the ball away.
“Therefore a team that is set up to counter attack get a few opportunities to create chances, so a big part of our talk at half-time was be patient, and don’t play in areas that it’s going to be difficult as that’s what they’re waiting to pounce on.
“We didn’t do it well enough.”
Attacker Lee Angol looked frustrated in the match and the boss felt they didn't give him enough to work with while admitting the position he was asked to play in perhaps didn't suit him.
“He did, I didn’t think we got him into areas, a couple of diagnoal passes from Dan Happe first-half, but we just couldn’t get him into the box because they were set-up in that manner.
“I’m not convinced Lee out on this right hand side is his favoured position, down the middle is, but we felt it was the right way to approach the game today.
“I think the frustration came from the amount of fouls and he didn’t get enough protection and that happens on a regular basis.”
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