United boss Paul Simpson shouldered the blame for the Papa Johns Trophy exit suffered at Holker Street on Tuesday night, with him vowing to look back at everything from preparation to execution as he continues to look for consistency in his team’s displays.
“It’s very disappointing that our unbeaten run is over and that we’ve gone out of the cup because of a total non-event of a performance,” he said. “That was from start to finish unfortunately.
“I’m going to take the blame for it. My preparation for us wasn’t right for this game, I made too many mistakes.
“I don’t even agree that we were huffing and puffing. I thought we were really poor all over the pitch, it’s as simple as that.
“I’ve got to go away and look at what I did to prepare them for the game. We’ve got to make sure we’re right for the weekend.
“It’s a big disappointment that we’re out of the cup, it might please some people, but it doesn’t please me. The level of performance certainly doesn’t please me.”
“I’ve told the players my preparation was wrong for them,” he added. “I’ve asked them to think about their preparation as well. I’ve told them that we can’t perform like we did at the weekend then come out in the next game and do that.
“It's a massive gulf between the two. You can't do that to be a professional footballer. There's no place for off nights.
“That's the disappointing thing, we had found a level of consistency. The big thing we have to do is react in a positive way, and what a great way that is at the weekend to come back.
“We recover now, prepare properly, dust ourselves down, count the heads, find out who's available for the weekend and make sure we're right against Leyton Orient.”
On what he wants to see from the group over the course of the next few days, he commented: “I hope they look at their preparation and performance as individuals.
“I've certainly made mistakes in how I’ve prepared them, and also the team I selected to start. I do hope they go away and have a think about it - ultimately if you're a good professional, that's what you would do anyway.
“I felt a bit for Mick Kelly, he made a fantastic save in the first half. It’s disappointing that Nic Bollado on his 18th birthday didn’t' get a lot of help out there.
“Morgan Feeney does what he does, plays with his heart on his sleeve, but sadly we had too many players not performing as they have been.
“Like I say, the weekend gives is a brilliant opportunity to respond. I’m looking forward to it and hope the players are as well.
“We’ll assess who is where in terms of injuries and how they feel, and we’ll go into the weekend from there.”