First team manager Shaun Derry did not sugar coat his thoughts on Notts County’s performance in the disappointing 1-0 defeat to Crawley Town.
The Magpies experienced a bad day at the office as they were beaten by a soft goal from a set-piece and reduced to 10 men after Alan Sheehan’s dismissal.
One positive was Bartosz Bialkowski’s showing, which ensured that Notts had a chance of stealing a point until the final whistle.
Derry is expecting a big response when County return to Meadow Lane to face Bradford City on New Year’s Day.
He said: “We were lucky to lose 1-0 to be honest and without Bartosz in goal we’d have comprehensively lost that game.
“It was so disappointing for me and the boys and everyone connected with the club.
“The fans have made two trips over the festive season and have gone away not enjoying it - I didn’t enjoy that.
“Did we test the goalie enough? No. Did we put crosses into the box? No. Did we penetrate into areas that were going to cause Crawley concern? No.
“I’m not going to come out and say there were many positives from the day, because there weren’t.”
He added: “We’ve got a big game coming up and we can’t dwell on this and be too down and despondent.
“These lads need to be back in the right frame of mind for what’s going to be a big game against Bradford on New Year’s Day.”
For full post-match reaction, sign in to Magpie Player.
Notts will be aiming to bounce back at Meadow Lane on New Year’s Day. For full ticket details, click here.