Leyton Orient interim manager Jobi McAnuff was of course disappointed but feels a lack of character has perhaps cost them a chance of making the League Two play-off places.
The O’s suffered a 2-1 defeat to strugglers Southend United at Roots Hall thanks to goals from Tyler Cordner and Max Rush despite an equaliser from Louis Dennis.
They now sit 11th and five points off the top seven, but despite mathematically knowing they can still qualify, the boss knows they must now look to the future.
“I’m disappointed first and foremost of course with the result as it was all about winning,” McAnuff said.
“Clearly the performance wasn’t good enough to get us a win and for me we all knew we needed to win today (Saturday), but us not winning and not getting into the play-offs is not just about today (Saturday), there has been ample opportunities for us in this run even.
“Even in my time in charge there has been times to win games that were there for the taking and we haven’t. That for me comes down to a lack of character and a lack of leadership at times.
“It’s something I've certainly been quite vocal on, it’s something we need to improve, and we need to get characters and leaders back in that dressing room as quickly as possible.”
He refused to say his side didn’t fight to seal the win but just lack that experience that the top sides in the division have.
“I wouldn’t want to sit here and say there wasn’t enough fight because the boys do give everything and there is no one in there who I would say is a shirker in terms of the work load.
“What I think we need is in certain times in games a little bit more spunk or a devil in certain individuals and that does come with experience.
“When you look at the group, there is not a lot of Football League experience, and again that is something that we need to get in the building when you look at the teams in and around it this year.
“They’ve got that and they’ve got it in abundance. That is an area we need to look at. I can’t say the boys don’t give me 100%, but ultimately over a long hard season, I'm a big believer that you come where you come.
“We are a little bit middle of the road, you only have to see our results against some of the top boys, they’re not massive differences but that bit of personality at the right time to get you over the line.”
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