Mike Williamson admitted that there are ’no excuses’ following a late defeat at Hartlepool United.
Mani Dieseruvwe’s brace, either side of Robbie Tinkler’s leveller and a red card for Josh Umerah, saw the points remain in Hartlepool despite an overwhelming amount of possession and pressure in Gateshead’s favour.
Although there were a number of positives to take from the performance, Williamson stressed that his side ‘have to be better’.
“It’s one that the lads don’t want to hear now, because they’re dealing with a lot of raw emotion, disappointment and frustration, but I think when we look at the performance we’ll be happy with it,” he said.
“It’s a counter to the outcome, which is frustrating for the fans and the lads to hear.
“Ultimately we have to be better, because we can’t concede that few amount of chances and be breached like we have.
“I’d say that one point within the two games is unacceptable, we all know that and there’s no hiding from it.
“The goals that we’ve conceded have certainly been avoidable, but there’s no blame culture, it’s about how can we collectively work together.
“We want to dominate the ball and areas of the pitch to win the games, that’s the outcome, and we don’t do it for any other reason than trying to penetrate their back line and get as many entries into the box as we can but ultimately there’s a few things that we haven’t factored in.
“You’ll hear managers talk about moments, and if we put a few of our chances away early on and we’re a bit more ruthless in our defending then the scoreline is different, but there’s no excuses.
“There’s a lot of positives from today, but the glaringly obvious is that we didn’t dominate the scoreboard, and we’re looking to make sure we turn that around on Tuesday.
“There’s lots to work on, but it’s a quick turnaround. We can’t feel sorry for ourselves – it’s painful but we move on.
“The disappointment and frustration is evident, and we’ve got to react to it, if we do then we become stronger for it.
“I know that this group will react to it. You win or you learn, and we haven’t won, so we’ve got to make sure we learn.”
