FC Halifax Town's defeat at Rossendale - their first in Unibond One North since September 9 at Mossley - was a culmination of a series of below par displays.
That was the view of boss Jim Vince, who said that despite their seven-game winning run, his side had not been playing well.
The Shaymen made a decent start at Dark Lane, but failed to take their chances and were beaten by a 76th minute header fro
m, Marcus Calvert.
"It has been coming, let's be honest," he said. "We had not played well for six or seven games now.
"But we never looked like scoring on Saturday and Rossendale defended very resolutely.
"Our ball retention in the final third was poor, we were always looking for the killer pass or looking to take an extra touch.
"We have to be better than these teams. We had loads of possession in the first half but never looked like breaking them down.
"We had been scoring quite freely but the centre forwards were bullied. Paul Gedman and Ashley Stott are good players but need to be better than that.
"You can have a bad game and get away with it and we have been doing that for the last month.
"The players know that was bad and I won't settle for that."
Town had looked comfortable, without ever being really threatening, for the majority of the match when they lost Junior Brown.
He was replaced by Kris King and moments later Vince made a second change, replacing Jon Smith with Danny Ellis.
"I made the change to be positive and I knew the game would stretch and we would either win or lose the game," he said. "I prepare to win games and needed to change it.
"They scored about five minutes after we changed it and maybe in hindsight I shouldn't have done it.
"I wanted to win the game and I wanted us to be better and sometimes you have to take risks.
"You say to players like Kris King and Danny Ellis: go on and change the game for us. But what did they actually do? Nothing.
"Making those changes has actually cost us the game.
"I am not blaming those two for the loss, but what did they do? They think they should be playing in the team - they have to show us when they get an opportunity.
"You can say it is hard coming off the bench, but that's what you do. If you want a shirt come and show us something because the others weren't doing anything. It showed me how weak we are on the periphery with a few players out.
"I will take the blame for the change but not for the performance."
Town remain top of the table on goal difference from Bamber Bridge.
"It is a long season and we have only lost four games so it is not all doom and gloom," said Vince. "We are still top of the league, but performances like that are not good enough.
"Maybe it was the wake up call the players needed."
The full article contains 527 words and appears in Evening Courier newspaper.
