CN: So Lee, after the elation of Saturday's win at Boston, a bit back down-to-earth tonight with the bang, what was the message to the lads in the dressing room just now?

LA: Well, the message before the game first, was that Saturday we didn't do anything. We beat a side that, you know, with all due respect, weren't at it on the day and it was nothing to get carried away about and I said tonight would be a completely different kettle of fish against a really good team who move it well, play an awkward diamond shape and one of those games where it was a fight between styles because they do keep it really well, they bossed the centre of the park, we knew that was going to be difficult for us, couldn't get near it.

But obviously in transition in wide areas, I thought we had loads of joy first half without the quality to go and finish it off. And listen, when you concede the goals, we conceded tonight (you) don't deserve anything from the game and that's, I think I said to you before kick-off, Chris, I think other than the Sutton game, I think we deserve something from nearly every game, well probably every game we've played in.

Tonight I don't think we did because we were schoolboy, we got ‘Old Manned’ from a corner and we had a warning sign because the one before that was a goal but given as a foul, whether it was or not, so we had the sighter, skippers off the pitch, getting treatment for a head injury and I didn't worry about us off that corner, I felt like it was coming and yeah, we didn't defend the box properly.

So you’re 1-0 down from a set piece coming at half-time, we discuss how we're going to go about the second half and say all the right things about keeping it tight and then we're letting it go that you don’t see on Sunday, it's our corner, we front the corner, front post, they shell it forward, we're 2-1 on the halfway line, lose duel number one, lose duel number two, we should foul him, they square it, tap in the corner, it's in the back of our net after two passes, knock over runners, not being aggressive enough, not having enough desire.

It's a bit of a killer for us because we've kept saying that we're playing well and it'll come and I was dreading a bad performance because if it's not coming all the time and you're playing well, what's it been about when you're not at it and tonight, we weren't at it and we got what we deserved. Again, I couldn't say there's loads of good stuff in there but there's loads of crap stuff as well, the amount of times you gave the ball away unopposed, under no pressure, sometimes teams come and press the life out of you and win it back but I don't think they have to do that, just give it them.

So I'm really disappointed, I'm appalled by the goals, like I always say, Chris, I'd stand in, front it up, I hate doing it when we've played like that, it's a bit embarrassing but like always, I've got to stand up and front it and I just said to the players there, the message after the game which was your original question, was that none of us are here to be mid-table, myself included, the players that have stayed, have stayed because they want to be up there, the players that have come to the club, have come because they want to be up there but we've got to show more fight and desire than that.

I just thought we looked flat at 1-0, did we have the belief we'd get back in that, the genuine belief, maybe not, I don't know, our home record at the minute for some reason just can't get going here and yeah, it's another one where you feel flat because you go from Saturday and think, do you know what, let's kick on now and let ourselves down again.

CN: In four days, we'd play a Long Eaton side who are rooted to the bottom of the table, how do you lift the lads between now and then?

LA: They've got to do it themselves, listen Chris, people have read the job of a manager sometimes, I just said to the boys there, this isn't about shape and tactics and personnel because we've got the same team on Saturday, same team, same 11, same shape, should we be full of confidence after Saturday's performance? And then we get that.

So, it's too easy to just say, what am I going to do to lift, what are they going to do? Them lads in there, there's experience around that room, it's gone round all of them, said hundreds of games, hundreds of games, loads of games of experience in there, it's not just down to me to lift the players, they've got to have the desire to lift themselves, they've got to want to represent this club properly.

I keep saying that, if this was my first road yard, I'd be concerned that what we're doing is not working, but like we said, we've been playing for two years running, we know what we're doing, but at the minute, I thought we'd recruited a stronger squad, we're lacking goals, we're lacking goals, if Draper doesn't score, let's be fair, who's chipping in?

I know Lewis scored on the weekend, but our wide lads at times are playing so well, Tav tonight, second half was brilliant, needed the end product to meet the goals, Eddie drifted in and out, it wasn't his best game, but he's had some cracking games for us, he's started in some numbers to his game, Graz, he had our two best chances, first one was a good effort, keeper saved his feet, second one I think he should probably score, or at least lift it down his throat.

Like we keep saying, goals change games, and I think other than gifting them a couple of chances, they've not really had to create anything, and that's the disappointing thing, we're not good enough here, but are we aggressive enough, are we hungry enough, and like always, that'll fall on me, and I'm sure we'll get some flack for that, and maybe right or so tonight.

We need to shift it up and mix it up a little bit, because we can't waste everyone's time, I don't know how many are here tonight, but we're getting five, six, seven hundred through the gate every week, and we need to be producing better, but the bare minimum is if you're going to lose a game, like I always say to you, there's a way to lose a game, you leave it all out there, put your body on the line, you win your duels, you fight for everything tonight, it's football soft.